Judiciary B advances several bills restoring voting rights to individual petitioners

The Judiciary B committee reviewed and approved a series of House bills that would restore voting rights to individual petitioners, advancing each by voice vote after brief staff recitals and limited questioning.

The chair said the committee considered a reduced packet of requests vetted with assistance from the lieutenant governor’s office and applied Governor Hoseman’s eligibility criteria. "Our internal policy is basically if the person has been not convicted of a violent offense and if they have been discharged for at least 10 years and had no additional problems and it's not like public funds that were, you know, stolen or embezzled," the chair said, summarizing the standard used to select the bills for the committee's consideration.

The committee considered the following bills and approved each by voice vote (outcome recorded as approval; voice tallies not specified in the transcript):

- House Bill 4118 (Mary Wayne Prader, listed in the packet as from Octibah/"Octipah" County): The packet says Prader was convicted of false pretenses, sentenced Oct. 29, 2002, served a 60-month term with later probation and house arrest revocations, and was discharged in May 2008 with no further issues reported. The committee approved the bill by voice vote.

- House Bill 4120 (Charles Kenneth Landram, Jones County): The bill packet lists a conviction for uttering forgery with a 2008 sentence (one year per count) and a release in October 2010. A committee member noted the discharge certificate in the packet also appears to show a separate possession-of-precursors conviction and asked whether the bill language would need to list all offenses; the chair said staff could seek clarification before the bill goes to the floor. The committee approved HB 4120 by voice vote.

- House Bill 4123 (Jose Williams, Hines County): Packet lists a grand larceny conviction, a six-month term and five years' probation, with release in August 1991. The committee approved the bill by voice vote.

- House Bill 4126 (Deborah Denise Thomas, Warren County): Packet lists a 1998 shoplifting conviction with a suspended three-year sentence, five years' probation, and a later revocation leading to a three-year MDOC sentence; release was noted in July 2002. A committee member asked whether fines, fees and restitution had been paid in these cases; the chair said that was a good question and staff would seek clarification if the bills move forward. The committee approved HB 4126 by voice vote.

- House Bill 4164 (Chris Cox, listed in the packet with variant transcriptions): Packet shows a receiving-stolen-property conviction in May 2009, probation revoked and a subsequent five-year MDOC sentence; the record indicates release in 2012 and a final discharge in 2014. The committee approved the bill by voice vote.

- House Bill 4173 (Jeremy Hajes, listed in the packet with variant transcriptions for the county name): Packet lists an uttering-forgery conviction, two years under supervision with release noted in November 2007 and discharge in 2008. The committee approved the bill by voice vote.

A committee member raised two procedural questions during the session: whether all convictions listed on discharge certificates match the bill language (flagging an apparent omission in HB 4120) and whether outstanding fines/fees or restitution had been satisfied for the petitioners. The chair acknowledged both questions and indicated staff would seek clarifying information before any floor consideration. The committee concluded by moving to rise and report its actions to the next stage.

Notes on transcript inconsistencies: county names and some spellings in the packet transcribed to the record (for example, "Octibah" vs. "Octipah," and "Laflur" vs. "Lafllor") appear inconsistent in the transcript; the article reports names and dates as presented in the committee packet and transcript.