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Committee rejects proposal to reduce first-offense cockfighting felonies to misdemeanors
Summary
Senate Bill 1111, which would have replaced a felony first offense for cockfighting with a tiered approach reserving felonies for repeat offenders, failed in committee after members raised fairness and criminal-justice concerns and invoked recent initiative-petition history.
Senator Woods presented Senate Bill 1111 proposing a tiered approach to cockfighting penalties that would remove felony classification for a first offense and reserve felony consequences for repeat offenders. He argued the change would reduce lifelong burdens and free judicial resources.
Committee members questioned the bill’s fit with prior initiative-petition reforms (state questions in 2002 and 2016) and expressed concern about fairness — in particular, whether penalties for property or drug crimes had been reduced in ways that made disparities visible. Senator Murdoch said he would vote no, citing fairness and concerns about imposing felony status on legitimate owners, and the chair recorded differing views during debate.
On roll call the chair announced the bill failed in committee with a result recorded as 4 nays and 3 ayes.
