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Votes at a glance: Judiciary C Committee reports multiple criminal‑justice and child‑protection bills favorably
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Summary
At its April committee meeting the Judiciary C Committee reported several bills favorably by unanimous consent, covering unlicensed group homes, worship‑service disruptions, AI‑linked child exploitation, stolen valor, aggravated flight, and educator misconduct in K–12. The committee noted further drafting on constitutional and sentencing issues prior to floor consideration.
The Judiciary C Committee reported the following bills favorably (all by unanimous consent unless otherwise noted):
- Senate Bill 46 (Sen. Reese): Creates the offense of operating an unlicensed group home with tiered penalties tied to harm. Motion to report was made by Senator Barrow; reported favorably.
- Senate Bill 35 (Sen. Wheat): Prohibits intentionally and willfully disrupting worship; the committee adopted an amendment adding "intentionally and willfully" and reported the bill with amendments (moved by Senator Abraham; reported with amendments).
- Senate Bill 306 (Sen. Edmonds): Defines and criminalizes obstruction of worship through force, threats, physical obstruction or intimidation; reported favorably (moved by Senator Abraham; reported favorably).
- Senate Bill 42 (Sen. Edmonds): Expands child‑exploitation law to address digitally generated explicit images; reported favorably (moved by Senator Barrow).
- Senate Bill 110 (Sen. Cloud): Criminalizes the use of images of minors to train AI systems that generate child sexual abuse material and updates the statutory definition to include AI‑generated images; reported favorably (moved by Senator Cloud).
- Senate Bill 51 (Sen. Kleinpeter): Creates the crime of fraudulent representation of military service ("stolen valor"); reported favorably (moved by Senator Kleinpeter).
- Senate Bill 58 (Sen. Kleinpeter): Sets mandatory minimums for aggravated flight from an officer when specified aggravating elements occur; reported favorably (moved by Senator Kleinpeter). ACLU testimony opposed mandatory minimums citing fiscal and policy concerns.
- Senate Bill 98 (Sen. Kleinpeter): Expands or clarifies prohibitions on sexual conduct between school personnel (school resource officers/security guards) and K–12 students; reported favorably.
Several bills drew requests from the ACLU and criminal‑defense counsel to refine language to address constitutional limits (notably SB35/SB306 and SB42). Sponsors and the Attorney General's Office said they will continue to work with stakeholders to tighten drafting before floor consideration.
