Committee backs amendments to align uninsured-driving and low-level school-zone penalties

The House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee on March 4 voted to favorably recommend HB24, a package of criminal-penalty amendments that sponsors say will align statutes and reduce unnecessary court appearances.

Sponsor(s) told the committee the bill consolidates two provisions that have been used interchangeably to charge drivers for operating without insurance and makes lack of insurance a class C misdemeanor, while preserving a pathway to dismiss charges when a driver proves insurance coverage before a court date. Dan Strong, director of the Sentencing Commission, told members the change reflects current practice: many cases charged as criminal were ultimately reduced to infractions or resolved without jail time.

Prosecutors also supported the change. Ryan Robinson of the Statewide Association of Prosecutors said class C charges in these low-level cases rarely produce jail time and alignment will reduce confusion and support restitution claims when uninsured drivers cause accidents.

The substitute and a drafting amendment were adopted by the committee without recorded opposition, and the committee then gave the bill a favorable recommendation for floor consideration.

The bill also includes a separate change to how certain school-zone speeding and careless-driving cases are charged, lowering some first-offense speed-range charges so that routine violations are handled as infractions rather than class C misdemeanors to ease pressure on misdemeanor courts.

The committee heard no public comment and completed its action after brief technical discussion. The bill will proceed to the House floor for further consideration.