Senate debates amendment to clarify treatment of prior unlawful-carrying charges after constitutional carry; amendment adopted

Senators spent substantial time Tuesday on amendments to S.136, legislation tied to last year’s constitutional-carry enactment. Sponsors and opponents debated how pending unlawful-carrying charges should be resolved now that the underlying conduct was decriminalized under the 2024 act.

Senator Tedder (sponsor for the measure) and other senators described a narrow fix aimed at relieving people who still have pending stand-alone unlawful-carrying charges that were nullified by the constitutional-carry law; at the same time, an amendment was negotiated to protect prosecutions of other charges that arose from the same incident. The amendment requires that when the unlawful-carrying charge is dismissed because the statute no longer criminalizes the conduct, it be dismissed and thus become eligible for expungement under existing expungement provisions; sponsors said the government (not the defendant) bears the administrative responsibility to effect that dismissal and expungement where applicable.

Why it matters: Senators said the change corrects an oversight from 2024 that left some people charged with offenses that the legislature later decriminalized. Debate focused on preserving prosecutors’ ability to pursue unrelated or more serious charges that were supported by independent probable cause, while ensuring people are not left with convictions or pending charges for conduct the legislature removed from the criminal code.

Key procedural outcome: After floor debate and questions, the Senate adopted the negotiated amendment. Senator Hembree (floor manager for a related amendment) and other senators spoke in favor; Senator Tedder thanked colleagues for the compromise. The amendment that was adopted requires dismissal of nullified unlawful-carrying charges and makes those dismissals subject to the state’s expungement rules.