Committee narrows bill to require on-duty officers with probable cause to report false-report suspects to state's attorney

The House Judiciary Committee amended and advanced House Bill 11 94 to require an on-duty law enforcement officer who has probable cause to suspect an individual provided a false report or false allegations to report that person to the county state's attorney.

Members said the change narrows earlier, broader language. Representative Vetter and others argued the bill should be narrowly focused on on-duty officers and probable cause, rather than broader phrases such as “false information” or “may.” Representative Vetter described the amendment as aligning the bill with a criminal standard: “instead say probable cause, which is [the] usual criminal standard.”

The committee removed the broader phrases and substituted language specifying an on-duty officer and probable cause; a roll-call vote on the amendment carried unanimously (committee reported the amendment vote 13–0 with one absent). The committee later voted to advance House Bill 11 94 as amended; the committee reported the do-pass-as-amended motion carried 9–5.

During discussion, Representative McLeod relayed concern from a sheriff’s department that officers should retain discretion and argued that “may” preserves departmental discretion; supporters of the amendment said probable cause narrows and clarifies the threshold so the statutory duty applies only when the officer has reason to believe a false report was made. Representative Wolff and others asked for and received a rewording to make the provision track the language governing false-reporting offenses.

Committee members agreed the bill puts a reporting duty into the Century Code but does not itself create a penalty; the committee did not add additional enforcement penalties during the hearing. A bill carrier was later identified to carry the measure to the next stage after committee action.