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Senate Courts of Justice Committee: summary of bills reported, referred and advanced
Summary
The committee advanced or reported a series of criminal‑justice, civil‑procedure and administrative bills. This roundup lists each bill the committee acted on during the hearing, the outcome at committee, and any recorded roll-call tallies available in the transcript.
The Senate Courts of Justice Committee reported, referred or otherwise acted on a slate of bills in a single hearing. Below are the items that received committee action (motions, votes or referrals recorded on the transcript). For bills that generated minimal debate the committee generally adopted substitutes and reported them out; where a roll-call was recorded the tally is noted.
Votes and actions at a glance
- SB 952 (Patron: Senator DeStef) — Action: Substitute adopted and bill reported out of committee. Committee roll: 9 yes, 5 no (recorded). See separate article for extended debate and public comment.
- SB 861 (Reeves) — Topic: Definitions of "police officer" and correctional statutory language (clean-up). Action: Reported and referred to finance. Committee roll recorded: 15 yes, 0 no.
- SB 892 (Med Mal certification) — Topic: Plaintiff expert certification timing and content in medical‑malpractice cases (cleanup and negotiated changes). Action: Substitute adopted; bill reported (roll recorded 15 yes, 0 no).
- SB 846 (Newcraig) — Topic: Access to minors' records via secure websites (custody/records clarification). Action: Substitute adopted; bill reported. Committee roll recorded: 15 yes, 0 no.
- SB 986 (Williams Graves) — Topic: Assault/battery against sports officials; mandatory conditions of sentence (prohibition from attending events). Action: Bill reported; committee roll recorded: 15 yes, 0 no.
- SB 965 (Carol Foy) — Topic: Recording and transcript treatment in Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court. Action: Amendments adopted in committee; bill reported. Committee roll recorded: 15 yes, 0 no.
- SB 888 (Perry) — Topic: Eliminates sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine at particular quantity thresholds. Action: Bill reported; committee roll recorded: 15 yes, 0 no.
- SB 1195 (Line of Duty Act: occupational cancer) — Topic: Align Line of Duty Act coverage for occupational cancer with workers' compensation (extend from 5 to 10 years). Action: Bill reported and referred to finance (roll recorded: no recorded opposition in transcript).
- SB (private college Line of Duty coverage) — Topic: Permit private colleges/universities police departments to elect Line of Duty Act coverage if they bear the cost. Action: Substitute adopted; committee voted to report and refer to finance. (Roll procedure discussed; patron noted prior unanimous passage in earlier years.)
Postponed / taken "by"
- Appellate-procedure/dispense-with-oral-argument bill (Senator patron) — Committee took the bill "by" (postponed) after extended debate and stakeholder testimony; no roll call to report the bill.
Notes on process and next steps
- Several bills included substitutes or line amendments adopted in committee; counselors noted some measures will require conversion to substitutes because bills were rolled together on the docket. - Where committee roll calls were recorded, the clerk's tallies are noted above; items reported will proceed to the next legislative step (finance or floor, where required). - The committee took the appellate-procedure bill "by" to allow additional data collection and testimony, including Court of Appeals disposition statistics and potential compromise language.
Why it matters: The committee's actions move a set of criminal‑law clarifications, civil‑procedure cleanups and administrative fixes forward in the legislative process, with several unanimous committee votes and one closely divided roll on SB 952, which drew public comment and civil‑rights opposition.
