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Panel green-lights bill creating inchoate fentanyl offenses after legal clarification
Summary
House Bill 15-52 creates codified inchoate offenses (attempt, solicitation, conspiracy) for three fentanyl-related crimes passed earlier; sponsors said the change steps the inchoate offenses below the principal unclassified felonies, and the committee passed the bill after clarification and a brief recess.
State Representative Jimmy Gazzaway presented House Bill 15-52 to classify inchoate versions—attempt, solicitation and conspiracy—of three fentanyl-related offenses created in an earlier session: aggravated death by delivery, predatory marketing of fentanyl to minors, and trafficking of fentanyl.
Gazzaway said prosecutors had identified that the earlier Fentanyl Enforcement and Accountability Act did not explicitly address inchoate offenses, leaving solicitation and attempt at a lower classification under existing code. Prosecutor Daniel Shue of Sebastian County told the committee he encountered a solicitation case that effectively would have been treated as a misdemeanor under the existing classification scheme. Gazzaway and Shue argued the bill aligns the inchoate offenses as a step below the principal offenses.
Representative Collins raised a technical question about whether listing the inchoate offenses as class Y felonies in the bill matched general criminal-law practice (where inchoate offenses are typically one “step down” in classification). Gazzaway acknowledged ambiguity in the draft and asked to pull the bill for clarification. After a recess and follow-up discussion, Gazzaway explained the three principal fentanyl offenses are unclassified felonies with penalties that can include life or very high terms; the bill therefore lists the inchoate offenses as class Y felonies to serve as the logical step down from those unclassified, very high-penalty offenses. Gazzaway cited examples discussed in committee: aggravated death by delivery (25–60 years or life), trafficking of fentanyl (20–60 or life) and predatory marketing to minors (automatic life sentence).
The committee returned to the bill and the sponsor moved to do pass. The committee voted by voice and the chair announced the ayes had it; the transcript records the bill as passed in committee.
