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Senate Judiciary Committee advances sweeping corrections overhaul after hours of testimony
Summary
After hours of testimony from prosecutors, sheriffs and criminal‑justice advocates, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to pass Senate Bill 495, a wide-ranging corrections and sentencing rewrite that supporters say brings clarity and capacity and opponents say risks harsher penalties and increased incarceration.
Senate Judiciary Committee members voted to pass Senate Bill 495 after a day of testimony that split prosecutors, corrections officials and criminal‑justice advocates.
Proponents — including a group of elected prosecuting attorneys who said all 28 support the measure — told the committee the bill gives juries, prosecutors and victims clearer information about how long people will actually serve, and includes recidivism‑reduction programs and mental‑health components. "There's an old saw in law enforcement and the law itself that it is not the severity of the punishment that deters crime, it's the certainty," said a prosecuting attorney who testified in support.
Opponents warned the bill could worsen prison overcrowding and disproportionately harm…
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