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Senate panel approves tougher penalties for altered serial numbers and creates aggravated trespass felony amid law-enforcement push
Summary
The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced measures to make altering or possessing equipment with defaced serial numbers a felony and to create a class D felony for aggravated criminal trespass in homes, vehicles or shops; proponents said the laws target organized ‘chop-shop’ networks, while defense lawyers warned of overcriminalization.
The Senate Judiciary Committee on [date] advanced two related measures aimed at curbing thefts of ATVs, farm equipment and other high-value items and at increasing penalties for unlawful entries.
Sen. Allen Clark, who presented SB237 and SB238 with Hot Spring County Sheriff Scott Finkbinder at the committee table, said the measures respond to a sharp rise in thefts and to what law enforcement describes as an organized industry that alters serial numbers. “When you can’t run the VIN,” Clark said, “that’s not a felony currently — they basically get away with the theft.” Sheriff Finkbinder told the committee he had personally been a victim of ATV theft and described recent arrests…
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