Panels back 2 measures affecting justice courts

Two bills that could affect justice courts have been passed out of committee with favorable recommendations.

A bill introduced by Rep. Brad King, D-Price, would allow municipal justice court judges to also work for the city that appoints them. Currently, county justice court judges can be employed by the county in another capacity but municipal judges cannot be employed by the city.

The Price legislator says rural cities have difficulty in finding quality judges, and the current law adds another limit to the judge pool.

The bill was passed this week by the House Judiciary Standing Committee. The Utah Judicial Council and Board of Justice Court Judges have not taken a position on the bill.

Another bill, SB151, introduced by Sen. Lyle W. Hillyard, R-Logan, would allow the Utah Court Administrators Office to conduct audits of municipal and county justice courts. Court officials say they would audit about 10 courts a year and take information gathered from the audits to recommend improvements to all justice courts. The audits would look at court procedures, records and finances.

The Senate Judiciary Standing Committee passed the bill onto the full Senate this week.

S.L. Demo waters down bill on racial identity of motorists

Rep. Duane Bourdeaux has watered down his bill to require Utah law-enforcement officers to record the race of every motorist they stop, but the measure still faces an uphill battle.

"Police have their concerns, but this is something that is needed," the Salt Lake Democrat said.

Bourdeaux removed from the final draft of the legislation a mandate requiring each motorist's race be included, along with a Social Security number, on a Utah driver license. He also deleted one of the most controversial provisions — a mandate that officers ask the ethnicity of drivers whose racial identity is not recorded on the license.

Utah's most influential law-enforcement group still opposes the legislation.

"The gathering of information required by this bill, along with the development of forms and the reprogramming of existing data collection programs, place an unfunded mandate on all state, city and county law enforcement agencies," said Wayne Shepherd, chairman of the Law Enforcement Legislative Committee, a group representing the state's police agencies and prosecutors.

The legislation has widespread support among many ethnic minorities.

"I'm hoping with the support I have from the community, I will be able to enlighten some of my colleagues," said Bourdeaux, who is black. "I want to fight crime, too. But at the same time, I don't want my brothers and sisters being harassed."

A bill that targets libraries, Internet access advances

Associated Press

The House Public Utilities and Technology Committee has unanimously approved a bill that would block state funding to any public library that does not restrict minors from accessing obscene material.

The sponsor, Rep. Marlon Snow, R-Orem, says the bill is intended to ensure that children are not viewing obscene material, intentionally or unintentionally, at the public library.

Amy Owen of the state Library Division said the Internet creates challenges for librarians, especially when balancing First Amendment rights to information and expression against community standards and obscenity laws.

Owen said Snow's bill respects the library's right to provide information while asking that steps be taken to protect children.

A number of Utah libraries already use filtering programs, software that is designed to block access to unacceptable Web pages. Filters use either a master list of Internet sites to block or rely on key words or ratings applied to sites based on content for violence, sex or nudity.

Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, said such filters may pose a problem for students who are trying to do research for a science project or a health class.

Police officers may get OK to testify via telephone

It's said that the telephone is the next best thing to being there. And police officers would be able to use it to testify in administrative hearings against accused drunken drivers, according to a bill that passed a Senate standing committee this week.

Sponsored by Sen. Scott Howell, D-Sandy, SB47 gives officers the option to make cases for revoking a suspected DUI driver's license at a state Driver License Division hearing via telephone rather than in person.

Bart Blackstock, driver license division bureau chief, said the law is needed because other duties often prevent police officers from attending the hearings. In 80 percent of cases where the administrative law judge takes no action against a driver, it's because the arresting officer did not show up, he said. Allowing remote testimony would result in more license revocations.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned whether the measure would infringe on the right to confront one's accuser. Howell said the rules for administrative hearings are not the same as court hearings, and that the attorney general's office determined telephonic testimony would not violate a person's due process rights.

The bill, which the committee unanimously approved, now moves to the Senate for consideration.

No legislative mandate on electrical deregulation

A year ago, banks and credit unions negotiated operations differences in the proverbial hallways of the Capitol, avoiding a mandated fix by the Legislature.

Legislators and others working on electrical power issues have been hoping similar negotiations could dispel the need for electrical regulation legislation. Large industrial power users would like to sidestep regulatory channels and shop for power on the open market.

Sen. Michael Waddoups, R-Salt Lake, is the sponsor of just such a bill, but it exists in name only. There is not text to forecast the particulars of a legislative mandate. Waddoups said Friday he too hoped to see progress from a task force that has been meeting now for three years.

"Several states have gone to full deregulation, and we're feeling great pressure to be involved in this," he said. The most powerful deregulation players in Utah are Scottish Power-owned Utah Power and four industrial power users: Magnesium Corp. of America, Geneva Steel, Kennecott and Nucor Corp. "It appears they are still some ways apart," Waddoups said. "The issue is not an easy one. In three years, the (bipartisan) task force has never come up with an easy solution."

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Waddoups did not appear anxious to use the now-textless SB250 he sponsored to force a resolve to the complex issue, though he listed that as an option.

House committee advances bill on minors and ORVs

A House committee on Friday sent on to the full House a bill requiring anyone under 16 who is operating an off-road vehicle to be supervised by another person who is at least 18.

The House Transportation Committee voted 10-1 in favor of HB 277, sponsored by Rep. Michael Styler, R-Delta.

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