MINUTES OF THE
SENATE JUDICIARY, LAW ENFORCEMENT &
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
STANDING COMMITTEE
Room 250, Utah State Capitol
March 5, 2015
Members Present: Sen. Mark B. Madsen, Chair
Sen. Gene Davis
Sen. Luz Escamilla
Sen. Daniel W. Thatcher
Sen. Stephen H. Urquhart
Sen. Todd Weiler
Members Excused: Sen. Lyle W. Hillyard
Staff Present: Mr. Nathan Brady,
Policy Analyst
Ms. Nancy Skidmore, Committee Secretary
NOTE: A list of visitors and a copy of handouts are filed
with the committee minutes.
Sen. Escamilla was asked to chair the meeting.
Chair Escamilla called the meeting to order at 4:23 p.m.
MOTION: Sen. Weiler moved to approve the minutes
of the March 2, 2015 and March 4, 2015 meetings. The motion passed unanimously
with Sen. Davis, Sen. Madsen, and Sen. Urquhart absent for the vote.
S.B. 252 Law Enforcement Use of Force – Task Force (Sen. H. Stephenson)
Sen. Stephenson explained the bill to the committee.
MOTION: Sen. Davis moved to pass the bill out favorably. The motion passed unanimously with Sen. Madsen and Sen. Urquhart absent for the vote.
H.B. 288 Line-of-duty Death Benefits for Peace Officers and Firefighters (Rep. P. Ray)
Rep. Ray explained the bill to the committee.
Spoke for the bill: Shante Johnson
Nannette Wride
Kory Cox, Employee Relations, Utah Public Employees’ Association
Gary Crane, League of Cities and Towns
Kelly Atkinson, Executive Director, Fraternal Order of Police
Jim Winter, Sheriff, Salt Lake County
MOTION: Sen. Thatcher moved to replace S.B. 288 with 1st Sub. S.B. 288. The motion passed unanimously with Sen. Madsen absent for the vote.
MOTION: Sen. Thatcher moved to pass the bill out favorably. The motion passed unanimously with Sen. Madsen absent for the vote.
H.B. 348S01 Criminal Justice Programs and Amendments (Rep. E. Hutchings)
Rep. Hutchings explained the bill to the committee.
Spoke to the bill: Ron Gordon, Executive Director, Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice
Spoke for the bill: Mike Haddon, Deputy Director, Department of Corrections
Adam Tripp, Association of Counties
James Johnson
Andrew Riggle, Disability Law Center
Rick Schwermer, Assistant Court Administrator, Office of the Courts
Spoke against the bill: George Chapman
Motion: Sen. Thatcher moved to amend the bill as follows:
1.
Page 3, Line 87 through Page 4, Line 88
House Committee
Amendments
2-27-2015:
87 guidelines
established by the Sentencing Commission
Ĥ➔ ; {and}
87a ▸ amends the
offense of criminal trespass »Ĥ ; and
▸ modifies a description
regarding restricted persons and dangerous weapons as related to amendments
made in this legislation regarding controlled substances .
88 Money
Appropriated in this Bill:
2.
Page 10, Lines 297a through 298
House Committee
Amendments
2-27-2015:
297a Ĥ➔ 76-6-206,
as last amended by Laws of Utah 2013, Chapter 152 »Ĥ
76-10-503, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2014, Chapters 299
and 428
298 77-1-3,
as last amended by Laws of Utah 2008, Chapter 3
3.
Page 210a, Lines 6477aa through 6478
House Committee
Amendments
2-27-2015:
6477 aa property . »Ĥ
6478 Section
202. Section 76-10-503 is amended to
read:76-10-503. Restrictions on
possession, purchase, transfer, and ownership of dangerous weapons by certain
persons -- Exceptions.
(1) For purposes of this section:
(a) A Category I restricted person is a person
who:
(i) has been convicted of any violent felony as
defined in Section 76-3-203.5;
(ii) is on probation or parole for any felony;
(iii) is on parole from a secure facility as
defined in Section 62A-7-101;
(iv) within the last 10 years has been
adjudicated delinquent for an offense which if committed by an adult would have
been a violent felony as defined in Section 76-3-203.5; {or}
(v) is an
alien who is illegally or unlawfully in the United States {.} ; or
(vi) is on probation for a conviction of possessing a substance
classified in Schedule I or II in Section 58-37-8, or a controlled substance
analog or a substance listed in Section 58-37-4.2 .
(b) A Category II restricted person is a person
who:
(i) has been convicted of any felony;
(ii)
within the last seven years has been adjudicated delinquent for an
offense which if committed by
an adult would have been a felony;
(iii) is an unlawful user of a controlled substance
as defined in Section 58-37-2;
(iv) is in possession of a dangerous weapon and is
knowingly and intentionally in unlawful possession of a Schedule I or II
controlled substance as defined in Section 58-3
2;
(v) has been found not guilty by reason of
insanity for a felony offense;
(vi) has been found mentally incompetent to stand
trial for a felony offense;
(vii) has been adjudicated as mentally defective as
provided in the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, Pub. L. No. 103-159, 107
Stat. 1536 (1993), or has been committed to a mental institution;
(viii) has been dishonorably discharged from the
armed forces; or
(ix) has renounced his citizenship after having
been a citizen of the United States.
(c) As used in
this section, a conviction of a felony or adjudication of delinquency for an
offense which would be a felony if committed by an adult does not include:
(i) a conviction or adjudication of delinquency
for an offense pertaining to antitrust violations, unfair trade practices,
restraint of trade, or other similar offenses relating to the regulation of
business practices not involving theft or fraud; or
(ii) a
conviction or adjudication of delinquency which, according to the law of the
jurisdiction in which it occurred, has been expunged, set aside, reduced to a
misdemeanor by court order, pardoned or regarding which the person's civil
rights have been restored unless the pardon, reduction, expungement, or
restoration of civil rights expressly provides that the person may not ship,
transport, possess, or receive firearms.
(d)
It is the burden of the defendant in a criminal case to provide evidence
that a conviction or adjudication of delinquency is subject to an exception
provided in Subsection (1)(c), after which it is the burden of the state to
prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the conviction or adjudication of
delinquency is not subject to that exception.
(2) A Category I restricted person who
intentionally or knowingly agrees, consents, offers, or arranges to purchase,
transfer, possess, use, or have under the person's custody or control, or who
intentionally or knowingly purchases, transfers, possesses, uses, or has under
the person's custody or control:
(a) any firearm is guilty of a second degree
felony; or
(b) any dangerous weapon other than a firearm is
guilty of a third degree felony.
(3) A Category
II restricted person who intentionally or knowingly purchases, transfers,
possesses, uses, or has under the person's custody or control:
(a) any firearm is guilty of a third degree
felony; or
(b) any dangerous weapon other than a firearm is
guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
(4) A person may be subject to the restrictions
of both categories at the same time.
(5) If a higher
penalty than is prescribed in this section is provided in another section for
one who purchases, transfers, possesses, uses, or has under this custody or
control any dangerous weapon, the penalties of that section control.
(6) It is an
affirmative defense to a charge based on the definition in Subsection
(1)(b)(iv) that the person was:
(a) in possession of a controlled substance
pursuant to a lawful order of a practitioner for use of a member of the
person's household or for administration to an animal owned by the person or a
member of the person's household; or
(b) otherwise authorized by law to possess the
substance.
(7) (a) It is
an affirmative defense to transferring a firearm or other dangerous weapon by a
person restricted under Subsection (2) or (3) that the firearm or dangerous
weapon:
(i) was
possessed by the person or was under the person's custody or control before the
person became a restricted person;
(ii) was not
used in or possessed during the commission of a crime or subject to disposition
under Section 24-3-103;
(iii) is not being held as evidence by a court or
law enforcement agency;
(iv) was
transferred to a person not legally prohibited from possessing the weapon; and
(v) unless a different time is ordered by the
court, was transferred within 10 days of
the
person becoming a restricted person.
(b) Subsection
(7)(a) is not a defense to the use, purchase, or possession on the person of a
firearm or other dangerous weapon by a restricted person.
(8) (a) A
person may not sell, transfer, or otherwise dispose of any firearm or dangerous
weapon to any person, knowing that the recipient is a person described in
Subsection (1)(a) or (b).
(b) A person who violates Subsection (8)(a) when
the recipient is:
(i) a person described in Subsection (1)(a) and
the transaction involves a firearm, is guilty of a second degree felony;
(ii) a person described in Subsection (1)(a) and
the transaction involves any dangerous weapon other than a firearm, and the
transferor has knowledge that the recipient intends to use the weapon for any
unlawful purpose, is guilty of a third degree felony;
(iii) a person described in Subsection (1)(b) and
the transaction involves a firearm, is guilty of a third degree felony; or
(iv) a person described in Subsection (1)(b) and
the transaction involves any dangerous weapon other than a firearm, and the
transferor has knowledge that the recipient intends to use the weapon for any
unlawful purpose, is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
(9)
(a) A person may not knowingly solicit,
persuade, encourage or entice a dealer or other person to sell, transfer or
otherwise dispose of a firearm or dangerous weapon under circumstances which
the person knows would be a violation of the law.
(b) A person may not provide to a dealer or other
person any information that the person knows to be materially false information
with intent to deceive the dealer or other person about the legality of a sale,
transfer or other disposition of a firearm or dangerous weapon.
(c) "Materially false information"
means information that portrays an illegal transaction as legal or a legal
transaction as illegal.
(d) A person who violates this Subsection (9) is
guilty of:
(i) a third degree felony if the transaction
involved a firearm; or
(ii) a class A misdemeanor if the transaction involved
a dangerous weapon other than a firearm.
Renumber remaining sections accordingly.
The
motion passed unanimously with Sen. Urquhart absent for the vote.
MOTION: Sen. Thatcher moved to pass the bill out favorably. The motion passed unanimously with Sen. Urquhart absent for the vote.
H.B. 277 Statute of Limitations for Civil Actions (Rep. K. Ivory)
Rep. Ivory explained the bill to the committee.
Spoke for the bill: Deandra Brown
Deanne Tilton
MOTION: Sen. Thatcher moved to pass the bill out favorably. The motion passed unanimously with Sen. Davis and Sen. Urquhart absent for the vote.
H.B. 300 Firearm and Dangerous Weapons Amendments (Sen. B. Greene)
Rep. Greene explained the bill to the committee.
MOTION: Sen. Thatcher moved to pass the bill out favorably. The motion passed unanimously with Sen. Davis and Sen. Urquhart absent for the vote.
H.B. 361 Investigation Protocols for Peace Officer Use of Force (Rep. M. Roberts)
Rep. Roberts explained the bill to the committee.
Spoke for the bill: Kelly Atkinson, Fraternal Order of Police
MOTION: Sen. Thatcher moved to amend the bill as follows:
1.
Page
3, Lines 60a through 60c
House Floor Amendments
3-3-2015:
60a [(c)
the investigating agency shall have]
60a1 (ii) designate which {investigating
} agency {has
primacy over all other investigations} is the lead investigative
agency [ of an
60b officer
involved critical incident] if the officer involved critical
incident involves multiple
60c investigations . »Ĥ
The motion passed
unanimously with Sen. Davis and Sen. Urquhart absent for the vote.
MOTION: Sen. Thatcher moved to pass the bill out favorably. The motion passed unanimously with Sen. Davis and Sen. Urquhart absent for the vote.
H.B. 296S02 Government Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles - Amendments (Rep. S. Sandall)
Rep. Sandall explained the bill to the committee.
MOTION: Sen. Weiler moved to pass the bill out favorably. The motion passed with Sen. Thatcher voting in opposition. Sen. Davis and Sen. Urquhart were absent for the vote.
H.B. 240 Judicial Discretion in Sentencing Amendments (Rep. K. McIff)
Rep. McIff explained the bill to the committee.
Spoke to the bill: Ron Gordon, Executive Director, Department of Criminal and Juvenile Justice
Spoke against the bill: Gary Scheller, Director, Utah Council on Victims of Crime
Alana Kindness, Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault
MOTION: Sen. Weiler moved to pass the bill out favorably. The motion failed with Sen. Escamilla and Sen. Thatcher voting in opposition. Sen Davis and Sen. Urquhart were absent for the vote.
MOTION: Sen. Thatcher moved to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously with Sen. Davis and Sen. Urquhart absent for the vote.
Chair Madsen adjourned the meeting 6:24 p.m.
________________________
Sen. Mark B. Madsen, Chair