Senate committee approves amendment letting retiring brand and timber officers buy service firearms

House Bill 95, carried to the committee by Commissioner Strain on behalf of Representative Robbie Carter, would allow state police commission officers in the Livestock Brand Division and the Timber Enforcement Division who retire under the provisions of RS 11 4 41 to purchase their service firearm at fair market value upon retirement, subject to approval of the commissioner.

The committee adopted an amendment offered by Senator Bass that reduced the retirement-service threshold from 20 years to 10 years. "Those weapons fully depreciate to that point at about 10 years," Senator Bass said when offering the amendment. Commissioner Strain described the proposal and the valuation practice: "These our last purchased the weapons were purchased in bulk at $520 each. The fair market value...is generally...about $250 about 50¢ on the dollar. That same amount of money would be allocated towards a trade in for buying new weapons," he said.

The committee also approved a separate technical amendment offered by Senator Wheat. After those changes, Senator Alon moved to report House Bill 95 as amended; "Seeing no objection, House Bill 95 will be reported as amended," the chair announced, and the bill was reported out of committee for floor consideration.

Discussion versus formal action: the record shows committee debate limited to the scope and thresholds for eligibility and a technical cleanup; there was no recorded roll-call vote on the bill in committee and no final floor action in this hearing. The transcript records two adopted amendments (the 10-year eligibility amendment and a technical amendment) and the committee reporting the bill as amended to the full Senate.

Clarifying details from the committee record include that the weapons in question were last bought in bulk at $520 each, that the presenter described an approximate terminal fair-market value near $250 (roughly half of purchase price), and that Senator Bass framed the amendment on depreciation timing rather than changing valuation method.

The committee did not record any objections to adopting the amendments or reporting the bill; no substitute motions, recorded roll-call votes, or dissents were recorded in the transcript of this meeting.

What happens next: because the committee reported House Bill 95 as amended, the bill moves to the Senate floor for further consideration and any subsequent votes or amendments will be recorded in later proceedings.