Senate Committee on Judiciary (05/01/2009)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

SENATE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

Date:	05/01/2009	ATTENDANCE

Time:	02:32 PM to 03:45 PM	Hudak	X
		King K.	*
Place:	SCR 352	Lundberg	E
		Newell	*
This Meeting was called to order by		Renfroe	X
	Senator Morse	Carroll M.	X
		Morse	X
This Report was prepared by
	Sara McPhee
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB09-1321 HB09-1351 HB09-1352		Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Amended, Referred to Appropriations Postponed Indefinitely

02:33 PM -- House Bill 09-1321

Senator Carroll, bill sponsor, presented House Bill 09-1321 concerning the placement of a juvenile who is awaiting trial in district court. She distributed materials concerning juvenile confinement (Attachment A). Senator Carroll discussed the amendments to the bill made in the House. She distributed Amendment L.009 (Attachment B).

02:38 PM

The committee discussed the specifics of the bill with Senator Carroll. Senator Carroll discussed the factors that are looked at when deciding where to place juveniles.

02:43 PM -- Ted Tow, representing the Colorado District Attorneys Council, spoke about the bill. He stated that his organization believes that the bill is a bit premature because the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice is looking at this issue. Mr. Tow explained that currently when the decision is made to charge a juvenile as an adult, the juvenile is placed in the county jail unless the district attorney agrees otherwise. The bill codifies this practice. Mr. Tow discussed Amendment L.009. He noted that he would be concerned about automatically placing all juveniles in a juvenile facility because the bed space is at a premium and a juvenile who is being charged as an adult changes the dynamics of a juvenile facility.

02:52 PM

Senator Newell asked about the prevalence of problems if a juvenile is being charged as an adult and is placed in a juvenile facility.

02:54 PM -- Maureen Cain, representing the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, spoke in support of the bill. She stated that juveniles from ages 14 to 17 charged with certain crimes may be charged as an adult. In the 1990s, that decision making process was primarily given over to the district attorneys rather than a judge. She stated that this bill looks at where to hold these juveniles before their trials. Ms. Cain explained that currently most of these juveniles go to jail rather than to a juvenile detention facility.

03:04 PM -- Sandy Mullins, representing the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, spoke in support of the bill. She read the testimony of a family member of a juvenile who committed suicide while in jail and was the impetus for the bill.

03:12 PM -- Carla Bennet, representing the League of Women Voters, spoke in support of the bill. She stated that the bill creates a dialogue between the district attorney and the defense attorney which will help to balance the needs of public safety and protecting children.

03:14 PM -- Kim Dvorchak, representing the Colorado Juvenile Defender Coalition, spoke in support of the bill. She explained that this bill is a first step to keeping juveniles out of adult facilities. She discussed the differences between housing juveniles in juvenile facilities as opposed to the adult jails and the types of programming available in the juvenile facilities.

03:24 PM

The committee discussed the specifics of the bill with Ms. Dvorchak.

03:27 PM

Senator Carroll concluded her presentation of the bill.


BILL:	HB09-1321
TIME:	03:28:23 PM
MOVED:	Carroll M.
MOTION:	Adopt prepared Amendment L.009 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Hudak
	King K.
	Lundberg	Excused
	Newell
	Renfroe
	Carroll M.
	Morse

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB09-1321
TIME:	03:29:05 PM
MOVED:	Carroll M.
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 09-1321, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a 6-0 roll call vote.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Hudak	Yes
	King K.	Yes
	Lundberg	Excused
	Newell	Yes
	Renfroe	Yes
	Carroll M.	Yes
	Morse	Yes

Final YES: 6 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:29 PM -- House Bill 09-1351

Senator Carroll, bill sponsor, presented House Bill 09-1351 concerning an increase in the amount of time an inmate may have deducted from the inmate's sentence. She distributed Amendment L.005 (Attachment C).

03:32 PM -- Joel Ryan, representing Prison Fellowship, spoke in support of the bill.

03:34 PM -- Christie Donner, representing the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, spoke in support of the bill. She distributed a handout (Attachment D). She stated that the criminal justice system cannot solely rely on punishment to reinforce behavior, but they also need to use positive reinforcement. She explained that research indicates that earned time is a powerful incentive for an inmate.


BILL:	HB09-1351
TIME:	03:39:28 PM
MOVED:	Carroll M.
MOTION:	Adopt prepared Amendment L.005 (Attachment C). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Hudak
	King K.
	Lundberg	Excused
	Newell
	Renfroe
	Carroll M.
	Morse

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB09-1351
TIME:	03:40:10 PM
MOVED:	Carroll M.
MOTION:	Refer House bill 09-1351, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed o a 5-1 roll call vote.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Hudak	Yes
	King K.	Yes
	Lundberg	Excused
	Newell	Yes
	Renfroe	No
	Carroll M.	Yes
	Morse	Yes

Final YES: 5 NO: 1 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:40 PM -- House Bill 09-1352

Senator Renfroe, bill sponsor, presented House Bill 09-1352 concerning adding commission of certain proscribed acts by government officials to the list of deceptive trade practices. He stated that a bill he sponsored earlier this session concerned the same subject area. Senator Renfroe indicated that this bill was introduced to make technical changes to the earlier bill that he had sponsored; however, there are questions concerning whether or not House Bill 09-1352 would create additional problems. Therefore, he requested that the committee postpone the bill indefinitely.


BILL:	HB09-1352
TIME:	03:43:36 PM
MOVED:	Renfroe
MOTION:	Moved to postpone indefinitely House Bill 09-1352. The motion passed on a 6-0 roll call vote.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Hudak	Yes
	King K.	Yes
	Lundberg	Excused
	Newell	Yes
	Renfroe	Yes
	Carroll M.	Yes
	Morse	Yes

Final YES: 6 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:44 PM

The committee adjourned.