Committee adopts judicial-safety-valve amendment to SB 14 and reports bills on fentanyl/psilocybin with mixed votes

In an extended executive session the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee considered major revisions to SB 14 (fentanyl-related penalties) and related language in SB 15, including a package of changes the chair described as a ‘‘judicial safety valve’’ and other sentencing and diversion conditions.

Chairman Roy presented a rewrite intended to preserve strong penalties for suppliers of lethal fentanyl while allowing judges discretion to avoid mandatory minimums for defendants who meet strict eligibility criteria. The chair explained the intent: to ensure those bringing fentanyl into the state and distributing it to children and others receive a meaningful sentence while allowing judicial discretion for lower-level defendants who comply with treatment and assistance requirements.

The adopted amendment (numerical tag as read in executive session) sets out eligibility criteria for a judge to impose a sentence below the mandatory minimum: no prior violent or recent drug convictions within seven years; no use or threat of violence or firearms in the offense; not an organizer or supervisor in a drug operation; and, to the extent possible, the defendant provides substantial assistance to law enforcement before sentencing. Other conditions include court-ordered substance-use evaluation and completion of state-approved treatment within nine months (with judicial flexibility if services are unavailable), or completion of a 50‑hour court-approved drug-education program if treatment is not recommended or available. The amendment also includes a prohibition for the safety valve where the defendant knowingly possessed or distributed fentanyl disguised to deceive (for example, pills sold as other drugs but containing fentanyl).

Defendants eligible for the judicial safety valve must also complete significant community service (250 hours for non-death cases; 300 hours where death resulted), submit to biweekly drug testing, and face a suspended lengthy prison term that the court may impose upon violation (a suspended sentence of 3 years, 6 months for non-death cases; 5 years when death resulted). The chair said the package gives courts discretion while reserving the harsh penalties for the most culpable actors.

Representative Newell, Representative Muse and others voiced concerns about mandatory minimums and the risk of sweeping in low-level users or people who are unhoused; Representative Baquette supported the greater penalties as a necessary deterrent to suppliers whose products are killing people. Representative Newell argued for a higher mens rea standard in death-resulting cases — in particular she questioned strict liability exposure when victims die from unrecognized fentanyl.

The committee first adopted the chair’s rewrite amendment by a 9–7 roll-call vote. A replace-all amendment offered by Representative Sher that would have removed mandatory minimums and taken a different approach failed on a subsequent roll-call (7–9). After debate the committee voted to report SB 14 (with the chair’s amendment) out of committee with recommendation 'ought to pass' (9–7). The chair said the bill’s language will be available in the committee report and that staff would supply the final drafting for review.

The same general approach—judicial safety valve, treatment and community-service conditions—was applied to related language in SB 15 (death-resulting fentanyl cases) within the executive session discussion. The package also includes a provision converting possession of psilocybin (magic mushrooms) of three-quarters of an ounce or less from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Committee members asked for careful tracking of treatment availability and noted judges will retain final discretion over whether a defendant satisfied the safety-valve conditions (the bill text explicitly assigns that determination to the court). Members also discussed community-service requirements, how the law distinguishes deliberate distributors from users, and how to ensure that scarce treatment slots will not produce unfair outcomes. The committee ordered the bills reported out with the adopted amendment package.