House Judiciary advances or refers a batch of bills on wildfire safety, DNA collection, judicial oversight and other measures

The House Committee on Judiciary met Monday, April 17 and took motions to advance multiple bills, moving a mix of measures to the House floor, to the House Committee on Rules, or to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means for fiscal review.

Why it matters: committee action on these bills sets their next procedural steps and signals areas the Legislature intends to prioritize this session — including wildfire risk, criminal justice procedures and court administration.

The committee adopted amendments and voted to advance or refer the following measures during the meeting.

Votes at a glance

- House Bill 2306 (dash 6 amendment adopted; moved to the floor with a due-pass recommendation). The bill broadens a Justice of the Peace district boundary to include a county seat in areas served by a circuit court and increases the fee judicial officers or county clerks may accept for solemnizing a marriage from $100 to $200 with CPI adjustment language. Motion to adopt the dash 6 amendment passed; motion to move the bill to the floor with a due-pass recommendation also passed. (Motion language: "adopt the dash 6 amendment to House Bill 2,306"; "move House Bill 2,306 as amended to the floor with a due pass recommendation.")

- House Bill 3,564 (dash 2 amendment adopted; bill moved to the floor with a due-pass recommendation). The measure revises the process for demanding and issuing retractions or corrections for alleged defamatory statements, narrows the permitted service methods and shortens the retraction-demand window from 60 to 40 days in the posted amendment. Motions to adopt the dash 2 and to move the bill passed.

- House Bill 3,666 (moved to House Committee on Rules without recommendation). The wildfire utility safety-certification bill, which would require investor-owned utilities to apply to the Public Utilities Commission for a wildfire safety certificate and authorize the PUC to adopt implementing rules, was moved to Rules without recommendation for further work. Committee members said additional stakeholder conversations will continue before final action.

- House Bill 3,816 (dash 3 amendment adopted; bill moved to the floor with a due-pass recommendation). The amended measure would require insurers that receive restitution awards to pay 50% to the Department of Justice to fund victim services and allows insurers to redirect district attorneys in some cases to pursue civil recovery.

- House Bill 2,522 (moved to the floor with a due-pass recommendation). The bill would require use of headlights when windshield wipers are in operation or when there is fog; the committee rescinded a subsequent referral to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means.

- House Bill 2,632 (dash 3 amendment adopted; moved to the floor with a due-pass recommendation). The bill replaces "specialty courts" language with "treatment courts," establishes an advisory committee appointed by the chief justice and requires the Criminal Justice Commission to study treatment courts; the committee adopted the dash 3 amendment and moved the bill.

- House Bill 2,712 (dash 2 amendment adopted; referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means by prior reference). The amendment replaces the measure and includes judicial pay changes effective July 1, 2026, and authorizes the chief justice to establish accountability rules and an ombuds office to receive concerns about judicial performance.

- House Bill 3,093 (dash 2 amendment adopted; referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means by prior reference). The bill would require law enforcement to obtain a DNA sample from persons arrested for certain serious felonies, with specified exceptions and retention and destruction rules. The committee heard a fiscal note of roughly $2 million for State Police DNA processing and referred the bill to Ways and Means for budget consideration.

- House Bill 3,825 (dash 3 amendment adopted; moved to the floor with a due-pass recommendation). The bill would cause outstanding municipal and justice court monetary obligations for minor marijuana possession to expire on the effective date of the act.

What the committee said: Members repeatedly noted fiscal impacts (several measures were referred to Ways and Means) and asked for continued stakeholder work on complex items — especially the wildfire-safety bill — before final passage. The chair repeatedly framed several referrals as "without recommendation" to allow more negotiation in Rules or interim work.

Procedural notes: Where the committee recorded roll-call votes during the meeting the chair announced that the motions "pass." The transcript records individual roll-call responses for members but the committee did not publish an aggregate roll count in the committee minutes excerpt provided here.

What’s next: Bills moved to the floor will appear on the House calendar for potential second reading. Measures referred to Rules or Ways and Means will be scheduled for further committee work and fiscal review.

Ending: The meeting carried several items to the next day for additional work and the chair said staff will update the committee calendar for Tuesday so members have a clarified agenda.