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Committee backs bill allowing solicitors to admit defendants to pretrial intervention more than once
Summary
The committee gave H3057 a favorable report after members debated whether allowing solicitors to place someone in pretrial intervention multiple times would weaken safeguards; the bill bars repeat PTI for prior domestic-violence PTI cases and leaves participation to solicitor consent.
The House Judiciary Committee voted to give H3057 a favorable report after a discussion about whether permitting repeated entries into pretrial intervention (PTI) would undercut the program's purpose or expand treatment options for defendants.
Mister Weeks, reporting for the subcommittee, said H3057 amends code sections to allow a solicitor to consent to a person participating in PTI more than once; "this bill would lift that bar if the solicitor consents," he said, and the bill expressly prevents a second PTI for someone who previously used PTI for a criminal domestic-violence charge.
Members raised concerns about an open-ended ability to re-enter PTI. Mister Quinn asked whether unlimited PTI entries would defeat the program's "one-shot" purpose; Mister Kennedy worried about victim voice and accountability if solicitors have broad discretion. Mister Rutherford and Mister Bannister defended the provision as a tool for solicitors to provide treatment and reduce recidivism, noting the solicitor's discretion and local accountability through elections.
Committee members also discussed fees tied to PTI. The transcript records that an initial application fee is $100 and an additional $250 may be charged prior to admission, and the committee noted that solicitors set local PTI fees in practice.
The committee carried H3057 by voice vote and advanced the bill out of committee.
