Committee recommends 'ought not to pass' on county jail funding bill LD 2235

The Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted to recommend 'ought not to pass' on LD 2235, a committee bill that would have increased county jail funding and examined possible operational changes such as regionalization or state oversight.

The committee's legislative analyst, Will Tu, said the bill grew out of earlier work (LD 719) and that the measure was a committee bill that could not be withdrawn without a committee decision. Representative Tavis Hasenfus told the panel he preferred to work with stakeholders off-session and return with a more developed proposal to the 133rd Legislature. "I think this is an important topic... my preference is to try to visit it in the off-session, work with the stakeholders to bring back a better developed, more thought-through bill," Hasenfus said.

Representative Chad Perkins moved the committee adopt an 'ought not to pass' recommendation; the motion was seconded and put to a vote. The clerk recorded that 10 members voted in favor and three were absent, carrying the motion to recommend that LD 2235 not pass. Will Tu told members there had been no public hearing on the bill because of its late filing.

Members who spoke in favor of deferring further work underscored the bill's scope and the limited time left in session; supporters said a fuller stakeholder process would yield a clearer, more implementable proposal. The committee did not schedule further public hearings on LD 2235; members said they expect some sponsors or committees to continue discussions off-session and potentially return with refined legislation next year.

The committee moved on to other items after the vote; LD 2235 will be recorded as having an 'ought not to pass' recommendation from this committee and may be revisited in future legislative work.