Committee hears testimony on enhanced sentences for crimes against vulnerable people; sponsors agree to refine language

The House Human Services Committee heard emotional testimony Wednesday on Senate Bill 296, a penalty-enhancement proposal that would increase sentences for crimes committed against vulnerable persons by people employed or volunteering in caregiving facilities.

Sponsor Senator Mike Yakawich framed the bill as an accountability measure drafted with county attorneys after several high-profile incidents. "The bill is ... enhancing the penalty" he said, describing a proposed 1–10 year enhancement for qualifying offenses committed in caregiving settings and arguing the change would help prevent offenders from cycling through jobs by burying felony records.

Family members and providers recounted cases of abuse and urged passage. Kathy Evans, mother of a victim she identified as Alan, said her son was assaulted in a Billings group home and later died from his injuries; she told the committee the bill would help protect future vulnerable residents. John Macdonald and Calvin Colton described assaults and failures of accountability that they said current misdemeanor outcomes leave unaddressed.

County attorneys and the Yellowstone County Attorney's Office testified in support of an enhancement concept but emphasized the enhancement is a separate judicial finding that prosecutors may or may not pursue. Ariel Dean (deputy chief county attorney) explained the enhancement is discretionary for prosecutors and requires a separate finding by a judge or jury before any enhanced sentence applies.

Oppositions and cautionary testimony focused on statutory scope and criminal-justice effects. Brian Smith (Public Defender Division Administrator) and other committee members warned the measure could increase prosecutorial leverage in plea negotiations, potentially reducing trials and affecting public-defender caseloads. Representatives pressed whether the bill, as written, could transform low-level property offenses against a person over age 60 into mandatory felony enhancements; prosecutors and the sponsor said they are open to narrowing language.

Committee members and attorneys discussed several possible guardrails: limiting the enhancement to felony offenses or to crimes that inflict bodily injury, and clarifying the statutory definition of 'caregiving facility' and 'vulnerable person' (the transcript cited 52 3 8 0 3 as the relevant definition of a vulnerable adult). Multiple prosecutors and advocates urged that financial exploitation of incapacitated adults (statutory references to exploitation were raised in testimony) also be within scope even if not categorized as a violent crime.

Senator Yakawich closed by asking for continued work on tailored amendments and the committee left the hearing with no final committee-level vote recorded in the hearing transcript.

Next steps: sponsors signaled willingness to accept amendments to narrow statutory language or enumerate specific violent or exploitive offenses to capture the bill's intent without producing unintended felony outcomes for minor property offences.