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After fatal smuggling incident, sponsor seeks broader search authority for detainees held overnight
Summary
Representative George (sponsor) and local law enforcement urged the committee to pass House Bill 605, which would allow additional searches of inmates jailed more than 12 hours to prevent smuggling of drugs and weapons into detention facilities after recent incidents, including an inmate death and fentanyl exposure to staff.
Representative George (last name in transcript: I) opened the hearing on House Bill 605, describing the bill as a local‑sheriff‑driven response to a recent series of smuggling incidents in county jails. The sponsor said Cascade County had experienced multiple events where contraband was brought into custody — including a death of an inmate and an incident where a detention officer was exposed to fentanyl — and that HB 605 would permit additional searches of people jailed longer than 12 hours to reduce those risks.
Sponsor and law‑enforcement rationale: The Cascade County Sheriff (Jesse Slaughter) testified that the most common smuggling method has been through body insertion. He and the sponsor said the bill’s narrower search authority is intended to protect inmates and staff while preserving reasonable procedural limits; testimony emphasized safety and a need to update statute to address modern contraband threats.
Proponents and concerns: Sheriffs and county representatives endorsed the change as focused and operationally necessary. The transcript ends while Sheriff Slaughter was describing common smuggling methods and the dangers posed by fentanyl; additional testimony and opponent comments, if any, were not included in the provided transcript extract.
Disposition: The hearing was in process at the time the transcript ends; no committee action or vote appears in the available record. The committee heard law‑enforcement testimony describing operational incidents and public‑safety rationales and will likely continue consideration and questioning.
