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House passes broad criminal-justice reform package focusing on treatment, risk assessments and reduced penalties
Summary
First substitute HB348 passed 72-3 after floor debate and an amendment. Sponsor Representative Hutchings said the package prioritizes risk-and-needs assessments, reduced penalties for some drug offenses, new treatment and supervision resources, and staged implementation with outcome measures.
Representative Hutchings, sponsor of first substitute HB348, successfully guided a wide-ranging criminal-justice reform package through the Utah House on March 3, 2015, telling colleagues the measures aim to identify why people commit crimes and match sanctions and treatment to those causes.
Hutchings opened the floor presentation by moving amendment number 3 and describing the bill as a package of reforms that would introduce more rigorous needs-and-risk assessments at arrest and sentencing, reduce penalties for certain drug-related offenses, expand treatment opportunities and enhanced supervision, and establish performance and outcome measures. He said stakeholders including the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ), prosecutors, sheriffs, courts, the board of pardons and national groups such as the Pew Charitable Trusts helped shape the proposal.
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