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Senators advance sentencing modernization and cleanup bills after extended debate
Summary
The committee advanced House Bill 2104, which implements and organizes last year’s felony sentencing modernization, and House Bill 2105, a related cleanup measure. Senators discussed implementation timing, stakeholder involvement, jury instruction disclosure and the potential for future legislative changes.
The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced two linked measures that organize and implement last year’s felony sentencing modernization and make technical and procedural fixes.
Senator Rader explained House Bill 2104 as the administrative follow‑up to last year’s House Bill 1792 (the sentencing reclassification act), saying the bill "takes that list and marries each crime in the list with its category sentence range and minimum percentage where applicable." He said there are no substantive changes to categories or percentages and described the measure as an implementation and reference tool.
Committee members asked about timing and oversight. Senator Brooks and others asked whether the new structure would make it easier for future legislatures to change whole tiers of crimes. Rader responded that the purpose was to provide a consistent table and a common reference so judges, juries, defendants and victims could see where crimes fit; he acknowledged the legislature retains the ability to change sentencing in subsequent sessions. Ryan Stevenson, deputy director of the District Attorneys Council, testified that technical mismatches identified after the reclassification were being addressed and that a follow‑on bill (cited in the hearing as 2105) would handle additional cleanup.
House Bill 2105, presented as a cleanup bill, contains administrative changes and a few substantive items the stakeholders agreed to. Rader explained one substantive change: language requiring that judges "shall" include minimum time‑served requirements in jury instructions when a percentage applies, rather than leaving that wording as permissive. He said other provisions clarify Department of Corrections procedures when sentencing paperwork is unclear so inmates can be processed while paperwork is corrected.
Senators debated whether the effective date (set for Jan. 1, 2026) allowed adequate time for implementation and whether a moratorium on broad legislative tinkering would be appropriate; the sponsors said the date was chosen to give time for review and that a moratorium was unlikely. The record includes back‑and‑forth about stakeholder participation: Rader and Stevenson said prosecutors, sheriffs and defense representatives participated in prior negotiations for the original modernization bill, while the transcript shows defense participation primarily in the earlier negotiations for HB 1792.
The committee recorded votes for both bills. House Bill 2104 advanced on a 5-1 recorded vote. House Bill 2105 advanced on a 5-1 recorded vote. The transcript records named ayes and a single nay in roll calls; the committee chair declared both bills advanced.
