Add-ons for ethics penalties sent along
The Senate on Thursday sent the governor a pair of bills adding new penalties for lawbreaking legislators and judges.
House Bill 1007 by Rep. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, would allow litigants adversely affected by a judicial decision that is the result of a bribe to sue the judge for damages. Judicial immunity now protects judges from being held liable for their court decisions.
The bill would not apply retroactively to the case of former Faulkner County Circuit Judge Michael Maggio, who is appealing his federal bribery conviction for lowering a jury award against a nursing home from $5.2 million to $1 million. According to his previous plea agreement, the decision was made in exchange for contributions to his campaign for the Arkansas Court of Appeals.
House Bill 1006 by Tucker would increase the penalty for abuse of office committed by lawmakers and other officials who improperly benefit from their official actions.
The bill would increase the penalty for abuse of office by receiving an improper benefit so that it would match the punishment if the crime were a theft.
Abuse of office is now a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail, no matter the amount of the benefit.
The bill would make abuse of office a Class B felony if the value of the benefit is $25,000 or more, a Class C felony if the value of the benefit is more than $5,000 but less than $25,000, a Class D felony is the value of the benefit is $500 or more, but less than $5,000; or a Class A misdemeanor if the value of the benefit is less than $500 or the value of the benefit cannot be determined.
-- Michael R. Wickline
Criminal-justice changes advance
A criminal-justice package that prompted weeks of negotiations in the Senate was approved Thursday without debate by the House Judiciary Committee.
The Criminal Justice Efficiency and Safety Act of 2017, or Senate Bill 136, was presented to the committee Tuesday by its chief sponsor, Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R- Little Rock, who fielded a few technical questions in anticipation of a vote being held Thursday.
The committee passed the bill on a voice vote Thursday without any further commentary. There was no audible opposition. The bill now goes to the House.
The committee vote was a sharp contrast to the bill's treatment in the Senate, where it was subject to long debates in committee, and multiple amendments to ease concerns from authorities.
The result of recommendations from the Legislative Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force, SB136 creates a series of intermediate sanctions for offenders who violate their probation or parole, or who commit less serious misdemeanors. It also established new treatment centers for the mentally ill.
Limiting revocation to prison for such offenders is estimated to free up more than 1,600 prison beds in the state's overcrowded system.
Prosecutors had expressed reservations about the breaks the bill would give to some offenders, but as a group remain neutral.
-- John Moritz
3 marijuana bills get House support
Three new pieces of medical-marijuana legislation -- including a 4 percent tax levied every time the drug changes hands -- were approved by House lawmakers Thursday.
The changes were proposed by Rep. Doug House, R- North Little Rock, who has become the lower chamber's point-man for tweaks and additions to the voter-approved amendment to allow legal medical marijuana in Arkansas.
The first bill passed onto the Senate, House Bill 1580, would create a 4 percent tax on "usable marijuana" that is sold by a cultivation facility, dispensary or other marijuana business. House said the rate was determined by the Department of Finance and Administration to cover the costs of developing a system for regulating medical marijuana.
House said medical marijuana is likely to become commercially available around this time next year.
The chamber approved the bill 77-3. Rep. David Meeks, R- Conway, said he opposed the bill because of his pledge to never vote to raise taxes.
The chamber also passed HB1584, which would allow the Medical Marijuana Commission to issue temporary licenses to cultivators and dispensaries if the former licensee ends their control of the facility. HB1436, which would align the expiration dates of licenses and registry cards with the end of the state fiscal year also received a favorable vote.
-- John Moritz
House passes plan on inmates' work
House lawmakers voted Thursday to allow state prisoners housed at county jails through the Act 309 work-release program to work for nonprofit groups.
Senate Bill 273 now heads to Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Inmates in the program, who generally provide community service work around the jails where they are held, had previously been allowed to work for nonprofits, said House sponsor Rep. Trevor Drown, R-Dover. But that stopped after an attorney general's opinion determined the practice violated the law, he said.
The bill passed 68-6. Some lawmakers expressed concerns that inmates could end up providing free labor to less-than-scrupulous nonprofits.
Rep. John Walker, D-Little Rock, asked that the bill be narrowed to make sure it only includes nonprofits that work in the public interest. But Drown said sheriffs would have adequate oversight to allow only certain private groups to participate.
-- John Moritz
Rape-prevention measure endorsed
The House Education Committee advanced a bill Thursday requiring the Higher Education Coordinating Board to develop an action plan to address the prevention of sexual assault.
House Bill 1518, by Rep. James Sturch, R-Batesville, would require schools to incorporate sexual assault prevention into student orientation and integrate information into academic courses where appropriate.
Samantha Baker, a law student at the University of Arkansas, said the bill is a first step toward improving the climate at the university, which is one of several hundred schools nationally under investigation by the federal government for Title IX violations.
The bill passed without dissent after Sturch agreed to amend a portion requiring the coordinating board to identify opportunities for students to reach out to younger teens to serve as role models.
-- Brian Fanney
A Section on 03/03/2017