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House committee favors cleanup removing grandfather clause for victim service provider certification
Summary
The House Judiciary criminal laws subcommittee gave House Bill 3524 a favorable report, removing a 2008 grandfather clause exempting some victim service providers from core certification requirements and clarifying that licensed mental health clinicians are not covered by the victim service provider definition.
House Bill 3524 received a favorable report from the House Judiciary criminal laws subcommittee after Representative Johnson described the measure as a technical cleanup to conform the statute to modern practice. The bill removes a 2008 grandfather clause that had exempted certain victim service providers from completing basic core certification requirements and explicitly states that licensed mental-health clinicians do not fall under the statute’s definition of victim service providers.
Representative Johnson, who presented the bill, said the change “simply recognizes that licensed mental health providers are already qualified to serve in their role and they got their own set of certifications. So this is really just a cleanup bill.” Committee members did not request further debate. The subcommittee ordered a roll-call vote; staff recorded a tally of 22 in favor, 0 opposed and 2 not voting, and the committee reported H3524 favorably.
The change tracks recommendations from an oversight committee study of the attorney general’s office, according to the presentation. The bill does not alter certification standards for other victim service providers; it removes the grandfather exception and clarifies the scope of the statute.
The committee took no additional direction to staff and moved on to other agenda items.
