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Committee approves measure aligning pre-2015 lifetime suspension penalties with current code
Summary
The committee passed House Bill 1554 unanimously to reclassify pre-2015 lifetime-driving-suspension offenses from level 5 to level 6 felonies to match current sentencing parity; no public opposition was recorded.
The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee voted 8-0 to pass House Bill 1554, a bill that changes how the criminal code treats certain driving offenses tied to lifetime suspensions enacted before February 2015.
Representative Bascom told the committee the bill is intended to "fix a gap in the criminal code" by bringing earlier lifetime-suspension offenses into parity with post-2015 law. Under current law, operating with a lifetime suspension is a level 5 felony; Bascom said the 2015 changes made it harder to incur that status going forward and provided a process to correct some past lifetime suspensions.
HB 1554 would apply to people who received lifetime suspensions before February 2015, treating those particular offenses as level 6 felonies, consistent with the current level for habitual traffic violator (HTV) offenses that do not meet the post-2015 threshold for a level 5. Bascom said the change would align penalties for historical cases with the legislature'9s later policy choices.
There was no public testimony opposing the measure and committee members recorded unanimous support. Chair Freeman called the roll and announced the measure passed 8 to 0.
The bill will continue through the legislative process.
