Judiciary, Criminal Committee advances bills on stalking, DUI blood draws, firearms and bail transfers

The House Judiciary, Criminal Committee on an afternoon session advanced a package of criminal justice bills, reporting several as "do pass" after amendments and debate.

The measures approved or advanced covered: changes to how guilty pleas and deferred sentences count for future stalking and violation-of-protective-order (VPO) enhancements; revised language governing when law enforcement may draw blood in suspected DUI cases; edits to firearm-possession statutes (including imitation pistols); rules allowing defendants to post bond from another county; and technical fixes to sheriff commissary notice procedures.

Committee members said the bills ranged from responses to constituent requests to efforts to align statute with existing case law. "We've been working on, the law concerning domestic abuse for a few years now," Leader West told the panel while explaining House Bill 1413, which copies recent language from the domestic assault statute into stalking and VPO provisions so that certain guilty pleas or findings of guilt — even in deferred adjudications — count as prior convictions for enhancement for a period of 10 years.

Why it matters: Several bills change how prior pleas and procedural thresholds affect criminal penalties and law enforcement practice. Supporters said the measures close perceived loopholes for defendants with prior deferred pleas; opponents raised concerns about due process and the scope of prosecutorial discretion.

Key actions and brief summaries (votes at a glance):

- House Bill 1413 — Changes to stalking and VPO statutes: Reported "do pass." Committee vote recorded as 4 ayes, 1 nay; some roll-call votes were not specified in the transcript. The bill makes a guilty plea, plea of no contest, or finding of guilt count as a prior conviction for purposes of enhancement for 10 years, even where a sentence was deferred.

- House Bill 1886 — Trafficking of minors / penalty adjustment: Committee adopted an amendment (substituting a 10-year figure in one section) and reported the bill "do pass." The transcript records adoption of the amendment; a final roll-call tally for the bill was not specified in the record.

- House Bill 1990 — Firearm-possession language and imitation pistols: Reported "do pass." The committee adopted the measure (vote reported as 4 ayes, 1 nay). The bill adds language to align statute numbers and treats an imitation pistol that reasonably causes fear as covered by firearms provisions.

- House Bill 1991 — Allow posting bond from another jurisdiction: Reported "do pass." Committee vote recorded as 5 ayes, 0 nays. Sponsors said the bill responds to bail-bond requests and can reduce sheriff transport costs.

- House Bill 1996 — Sheriff's commissary and notice procedures (amendment): Committee adopted an amendment to exempt commissary property under $50 from first-class mail notice requirements and reported the bill as amended. The amendment text specifies: "unless the personal property is held by the sheriff's office as inmate commissary and is less than $50 in which case notice by first class mail shall not be required." Final roll-call for the bill was not specified in the transcript.

- House Bill 1222 — Drawn blood in suspected DUI cases (cleanup / exigent-circumstances language): Reported "do pass." The committee debated the bill at length and voted 5 ayes, 1 nay. Representative Geis said removing the probable-cause trigger and leaving "exigent circumstances" follows case law and the bill uses that standard to limit when blood may be drawn.

- House Bill 1168 — Chemical-abortion-pill trafficking: Reported "do pass." Committee vote recorded as 4 ayes, 1 nay after a brief explanation from the author.

- Additional bills advanced or amended with committee action (final roll-call not always specified in the transcript): House Bill 1594 (amendments adopted; bill reported do pass as amended), House Bill 1595 (committee substitute adopted; bill reported do pass as amended), House Bill 1597 (amendments adopted; bill reported do pass as amended), House Bill 1861 (amends prior 2023 language; reported do pass, recorded 5 ayes, 0 nays), House Bill 1935 (statute-of-limitations change for failure to report child abuse; reported do pass, recorded 4 ayes, 1 nay), House Bill 2068 (repealer removing obsolete fire-box regulation; reported do pass, 5 ayes, 0 nays), House Bill 1360 (address confidentiality changes; amendments adopted, bill reported do pass), House Bill 2798 (penalty for failure to report abuse in schools; reported do pass, 5 ayes, 0 nays).

Debate highlights and concerns

- Due process and deferred pleas: Representative Lowe asked about deferred sentences and whether the bill would treat a deferred adjudication or a plea of no contest as a prior conviction for enhancement purposes. Leader West confirmed the bill would cause certain pleas or findings of guilt to count toward enhancement even where a deferred sentence otherwise would have avoided a conviction record.

- Exigent circumstances for blood draws: Representative Olsen pressed on the removal of language requiring arrest and probable cause for blood draws. Representative Geis and other supporters said the bill tracks case law by relying on "exigent circumstances," and said they would work to clarify examples; Geis cited medical emergencies and the need to prevent evidence tampering as commonly raised examples.

- Imitation pistols and officer discretion: During discussion of HB 1990, a member asked who determines whether an object "raises in the mind" the belief it is a firearm. The author said the bill mirrors existing robbery-by-firearm language and that the standard is whether the device reasonably appears to be a real pistol.

- Sheriff commissary notice: An amendment to HB 1996 exempts commissary balances under $50 from first-class mail notice requirements; proponents described the change as an auditor-driven cleanup to reduce administrative burden related to small remaining commissary balances for released inmates.

What the committee decided

The committee reported multiple bills "do pass" or "do pass as amended." Several measures that drew substantive discussion (notably HB 1413 on prior pleas and HB 1222 on blood draws in DUI cases) were amended or clarified before being reported. Where roll-call detail was recorded, the transcript includes the committee tallies noted above; for several items the transcript records amendment adoption or "do pass" but does not include a full roll-call breakdown.

Next steps

The committee adjourned after completing the agenda; bills reported "do pass" will proceed through the House process according to chamber rules.