Lawmakers couldn't agree during Wednesday's special session about when animal torture should be considered a felony, but sponsors of competing bills promised to work out a compromise in time for the 2008 Legislature.
Legislators also voted to authorize the state to place more inmates in the Garfield County Jail, a decision that will allow county officials to move forward with plans to enlarge the jail.
Two bills on animal cruelty were introduced in the state Senate at the start of the daylong special session, and both were quickly sent to a committee for further study during the next general session.
Throughout the day, negotiations were under way behind the scenes to reach a compromise. Although Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, said lawmakers came "very close to an agreement," there was no deal before lawmakers adjourned.
Senators already had passed a version of one of the bills that was on Wednesday's agenda. The measure, sponsored by Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake, would have made animal torture a third-degree felony. But the House did not get to the bill before the end of the 2007 Legislature.
A second bill, introduced by Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, would have made animal cruelty a felony only on the second offense. Christensen said he was concerned about destroying the life of someone "who does a one-time stupid thing."
Davis and Christensen joined Valentine at a last-minute news conference early Wednesday evening to announce that a compromise was still being sought. But neither side could say for certain what the compromise would be.
One option still under consideration is allowing the option of charging someone with a felony on a first offense, depending on the severity of the crime. Davis said lawmakers will meet privately to work out the details before involving animal-rights advocates and the public.
Not all of supporters of Davis' bill — dubbed "Henry's Law" after the small dog who survived being baked in an oven and assaulted with a leaf blower — were willing to compromise. Neither the Humane Society of Utah nor Henry's owner, Rhonda Kamper, appeared at the news conference.
Earlier in the day, Humane Society leaders and Kamper had said they were disappointed that no animal-cruelty bills passed and said they would be back in January to fight for a measure making animal cruelty a first-offense felony.
"I thought I had a chance today, but they shot me down," Kamper said. She, along with her dog and a few dozen other supporters of the bill, held a rally at the State Capitol before the special session started.
Members of a group formed to fight for "Henry's Law," Help Us Help Them, supported the attempt to come up with a bill that both sides could support. "This is politics. We do need to compromise," said Anne Davis, the organization's president.
During the Senate debate on the bills, Sen. Jon Greiner, R-Ogden, argued that some crimes against people carry lesser penalties, including assault against a police officer.
Greiner questioned whether "animals should be placed above human beings" and called for more public discussion of the proposals.
The votes to send the bills to committee — unanimous on Christensen's bill and largely divided along party lines on Davis' — also sent a message to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. It's the governor who sets the special session agenda.
Huntsman, Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, said, should make sure that there's strong support for a bill before putting it on a special session agenda. "The problem with a special session is we don't have time to get into issues," Hillyard said.
Huntsman spokeswoman Lisa Roskelley said the governor was fulfilling a promise he had made. "The governor felt it was important to put it on the special session call, because he had promised his constituents he would. He had received hundreds if not thousands of e-mails and calls regarding this particular issue," she said.
Meanwhile, the bill authorizing the state to place more inmates in the Garfield County Jail, SJR101, passed both the Senate and the House unanimously. The price tag for the jail expansion, which will allow for housing 80 more inmates, is expected to be $4 million.
Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, said his effort to get the authorization during the 2007 Legislature failed because lawmakers ran out of time. He said housing inmates in county facilities benefits the state.
"We save money," he said. "We can move prisoners away from gangs or personal harm. We have the flexibility to move prisoners out and free up places for female prisoners. It's good for the state, good for the county."
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