House Committee on Judiciary (05/01/2009)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

Date:	05/01/2009	ATTENDANCE

Time:	02:36 PM to 04:43 PM	Apuan	X
		Court	X
Place:	HCR 0107	Gardner B.	*
		King	*
This Meeting was called to order by		Miklosi	*
	Representative Levy	Pace	*
		Roberts	X
This Report was prepared by		Ryden	X
	Jessika Shipley	Waller	X
		McCann	*
		Levy	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
SB09-292 SB09-296 SB09-286		Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Referred to Appropriations Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole

02:37 PM -- Senate Bill 09-292

Representative Labuda, bill sponsor, presented Senate Bill 09-292 concerning the revision of statutes in the Colorado Revised Statutes, as amended, and in connection therewith, amending or repealing obsolete, inconsistent, and conflicting provisions of law and clarifying the language to reflect the legislative intent of the laws. Often referred to as the Revisor's Bill, this bill is recommended by the Committee on Legal Services to amend or repeal obsolete, inconsistent, or conflicting laws. In some instances, it also clarifies statutory language to more accurately reflect legislative intent. The specific reasons for each amendment or repeal are set forth in an appendix to the bill.


BILL:	SB09-292
TIME:	02:40:05 PM
MOVED:	Levy
MOTION:	Adopt prepared amendment L.008 (Attachment A). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Roberts
		VOTE
	Apuan
	Court
	Gardner B.	Excused
	King	Excused
	Miklosi
	Pace	Excused
	Roberts
	Ryden
	Waller
	McCann	Excused
	Levy

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 4 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	SB09-292
TIME:	02:40:35 PM
MOVED:	Levy
MOTION:	Adopt prepared amendment L.009 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Roberts
		VOTE
	Apuan
	Court
	Gardner B.	Excused
	King	Excused
	Miklosi
	Pace	Excused
	Roberts
	Ryden
	Waller
	McCann	Excused
	Levy

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 4 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	SB09-292
TIME:	02:42:08 PM
MOVED:	Waller
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 09-292, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a vote of 7-0, with 4 excused.
SECONDED:	Roberts
		VOTE
	Apuan	Yes
	Court	Yes
	Gardner B.	Excused
	King	Excused
	Miklosi	Yes
	Pace	Excused
	Roberts	Yes
	Ryden	Yes
	Waller	Yes
	McCann	Excused
	Levy	Yes

Not Final YES: 7 NO: 0 EXC: 4 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:43 PM -- Senate Bill 09-296

Representative Ryden, bill sponsor, presented Senate Bill 09-296 concerning the enforcement of offenses involving failure of certain persons in a vehicle to use an appropriate restraining device. Under current law, the driver, any front seat passengers, and small children must wear a seat belt or be in an appropriate child car seat when the vehicle is in motion. Law enforcement officers can only issue a ticket for this offense if the driver was pulled over for another traffic infraction. This bill makes violation of seat belt and child car seat laws a primary offense for which tickets may be issued if the violation is clearly observed. The bill includes language to reinforce that profiling is prohibited.

Other provisions of the bill include:

an exemption for medical conditions;
changes to the requirements for rear-facing and forward-facing child seats;
clarification to the applicability of the law; and
an increase in fines for violation of seat belt laws from $65 to $75.

Representative Ryden read from her prepared remarks and distributed a document entitled "Colorado Safety Facts" (Attachment C). She responded to questions from the committee.

02:59 PM -- Wave Dreher, AAA Colorado, spoke in support of the bill. Ms. Dreher discussed the educational efforts of AAA with regard to traffic safety. She spoke specifically about the lives saved by wearing seatbelts. She stated that enforcing a primary seatbelt law is critical for Colorado. Ms. Dreher responded to questions from the committee about seatbelt use in Colorado and in other states with primary seatbelt laws.

03:05 PM -- Laura Hammoud, representing herself, spoke in support of the bill. Ms. Hammoud related details of her family's experience with a fatal automobile accident.

03:09 PM -- Jim Wolfinbarger, Colorado State Patrol, spoke in support of the bill. Chief Wolfinbarger stated that the increased use of seatbelts saves lives. He discussed traffic accidents from the perspective of the state patrol and a sharp decrease in fatal accidents in Colorado. He addressed questions about seatbelt use in other states, the costs of injury and fatal crashes, and racial profiling. He talked about how difficult it is for a state trooper to observe from outside of a vehicle whether or not an individual is wearing a seatbelt.

03:29 PM -- Lloyd Pearson, representing himself, spoke in opposition to the bill as drafted. Mr. Pearson distributed written testimony to the committee (Attachment D). He read from his prepared remarks. He asked the committee to consider a visible tag for individuals who cannot wear a seatbelt for medical reasons.

03:41 PM -- Herman Stockinger, Department of Transportation, spoke in support of the bill. Mr. Stockinger responded to questions from the committee.

03:42 PM -- Fran Coleman, Brain Injury Coalition and Craig Hospital, spoke in support of the bill. Ms. Coleman discussed the latest statistics from Craig Hospital with regard to serious motor vehicle accidents (Attachment E). She talked about the financial devastation that results from serious accidents.


BILL:	SB09-296
TIME:	03:44:46 PM
MOVED:	Ryden
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 09-296 to the Committee on Appropriations with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a vote of 6-5.
SECONDED:	Apuan
		VOTE
	Apuan	Yes
	Court	Yes
	Gardner B.	No
	King	No
	Miklosi	Yes
	Pace	No
	Roberts	No
	Ryden	Yes
	Waller	No
	McCann	Yes
	Levy	Yes

Final YES: 6 NO: 5 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:48 PM -- Senate Bill 09-286

Representative Levy, bill sponsor, presented Senate Bill 09-286 concerning criminal law. This reengrossed bill directs the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice to use empirical analysis and evidence-based data to study sentencing practices in Colorado. The bill provides suggestions about areas related to sentencing the commission may study, including but not limited to the following:

a statewide Department of Corrections (DOC) correctional facility management plan and

potential DOC correctional facility bed limitations;

sentencing practices related to the offense of driving under restraint and drug crimes; and
whether parole should be included in an offender's sentence or not.

The bill also requires the commission to study the impact of reducing the previously mentioned sentencing areas and the impact of incarceration on crime rates. The commission is required to update the Governor, the Attorney General, the Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court, and the Executive Committee of the Legislative Council by November 30, 2009, as to its findings, recommendations, and proposed plan for the ongoing study of sentencing reform. The commission is also required, by February 1, 2010, to provide the Executive Committee of the Legislative Council with specific recommendations regarding sentencing practices. The bill becomes effective upon the signature of the Governor or upon its becoming law without his signature.

Representative Levy responded to committee questions. The committee discussed the Departmental Differences section of the fiscal note (Attachment F).

04:05 PM -- Ann Terry, Department of Public Safety, appeared to respond to questions from the committee about the impact of the bill to the Division of Criminal Justice, which provides staffing services to the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice. Ms. Terry discussed the methodology by which the commission chooses what to study and how to conduct its work. She stated that direction from the General Assembly as the work of the commission will definitely require additional resources. The committee discussed the timelines included in the bill. Ms. Terry indicated that part of the need for additional resources occurs because of the tight timelines in the bill. The committee talked about terminology in the bill with regard to sentencing and sentencing practices. Ms. Terry summed up by saying that the commission will study sentencing on its own and does not require the direction provided in the bill.

04:23 PM -- Christie Donner, Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, spoke in support of the bill. Ms. Donner stressed that Colorado urgently needs to address the growing portion of the annual state budget that is devoted to corrections and to plan for prison growth. She indicated that the current corrections budget can be streamlined and the money can be used more efficiently. She encouraged additional study into the subject through the passage of the bill.


BILL:	SB09-286
TIME:	04:29:46 PM
MOVED:	Levy
MOTION:	Amend the reengrossed bill: Page 4, line 5, strike "sentencing practices" and substitute "sentences"; line 7, strike "sentencing practices" and substitute "sentences"; line 22, strike "sentencing practices" and substitute "sentences". The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Roberts
		VOTE
	Apuan
	Court
	Gardner B.
	King
	Miklosi
	Pace
	Roberts
	Ryden
	Waller
	McCann
	Levy

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	SB09-286
TIME:	04:29:59 PM
MOVED:	Levy
MOTION:	Adopt prepared amendment L.007 (Attachment G). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Ryden
		VOTE
	Apuan
	Court
	Gardner B.
	King
	Miklosi
	Pace
	Roberts
	Ryden
	Waller
	McCann
	Levy

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	SB09-286
TIME:	04:34:10 PM
MOVED:	Roberts
MOTION:	WITHDRAWN: Amend the reengrossed bill: page 4, line 20, after "shall," insert "seek to"; The motion was withdrawn when Representative Levy agreed to address Representative Roberts' concerns in a floor amendment.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Apuan
	Court
	Gardner B.
	King
	Miklosi
	Pace
	Roberts
	Ryden
	Waller
	McCann
	Levy

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE


BILL:	SB09-286
TIME:	04:38:37 PM
MOVED:	Levy
MOTION:	Amend the reengrossed bill, page 3, line 25, strike "sentencing practices" and substitute "sentences." The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Court
		VOTE
	Apuan
	Court
	Gardner B.
	King
	Miklosi
	Pace
	Roberts
	Ryden
	Waller
	McCann
	Levy

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

04:39 PM

Representative Levy wrapped up her presentation of the bill and asked for a favorable recommendation. She pledged to address Representative Robert's concerns about the reporting requirement in a floor amendment.


BILL:	SB09-286
TIME:	04:41:10 PM
MOVED:	Levy
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 09-286, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a vote of 6-3, with 2 excused.
SECONDED:	Court
		VOTE
	Apuan	Yes
	Court	Yes
	Gardner B.	No
	King	No
	Miklosi	Excused
	Pace	Excused
	Roberts	Yes
	Ryden	Yes
	Waller	No
	McCann	Yes
	Levy	Yes

Final YES: 6 NO: 3 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

04:42 PM

Representative McCann adjourned the committee.