Senate president kills criminal justice reform bill
The president of the Wyoming Senate killed a bill Friday that would have made broad changes to sentencing and rehabilitation options for those charged with certain crimes.
Sen. Eli Bebout, R-Riverton, said Friday that there were too many issues with the bill, so he decided to keep it in his desk drawer instead of assigning it to a Senate committee. The bill died Friday when the deadline passed for all bills to move out of the committee of the second chamber.
In its original draft, House Bill 94 would have given judges and prosecutors the option to halt court proceedings for people without a previous felony conviction who are charged with a misdemeanor or non-violent felony. The person would then be placed on probation, and if they successfully completed the term, the charges would be dropped. The bill would also offer alternative punishments for people who break conditions of parole or probation instead of sending them to prison for the remainder of their sentence. Another section would have given judges the ability to order substance abuse treatment as a condition of probation or parole.
The bill, sponsored by the Joint Judiciary Committee, passed out of the House judiciary and appropriations committees without any votes against it. A substitute bill was then introduced and then amended before passing the House, 31-26.
Read more: http://trib.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/senate-president-kills-criminal-justice-reform-bill/article_3e909873-9d66-5fa8-984d-bfc61a74af16.html