Protecting Our Communities

Our state’s criminal justice system has been watered down under the banner of progress through legislation designed to give criminals the softest landing possible while making life more difficult for victims, law enforcement officers and the communities they protect. Republicans will undo barriers police face when performing their duties, while ensuring that criminals are held responsible for their actions and that victims’ voices are again being heard and respected.

Safe Streets

• Remove certain violent crimes from being eligible for clean slate, such as the act of intentional possession of a weapon on school grounds, revenge porn, bribery and obstructing and threatening police officers. (HB 5334)
• Require those who commit murder resulting from an act of domestic violence to serve a life sentence without an opportunity for release. (HB 5335)
• Lower the age for the enhanced penalty of enticing minors to commit crimes. (HB 5336)

• Automatically revoke a bond for any crime of violence if the defendant reoffends with another crime of violence while awaiting disposition. (HB 5824)
• Require bail bondsmen to have and maintain trustee accounts that are subject to an audit by the licensing authority. (HB 5824)
• Prevent bail bondsmen from circumventing bond deposits requirements by making it an offense to do so punishable by license revocation, fines, and prison time. (HB 5824)
• Create a threshold by which a defendant automatically does not qualify for a public defender if they have posted a significant amount of bond that contradicts their claim of being impoverished. (HB 5824)
• Add an additional 2 years to the mandatory minimum sentence for a carjacking that involves a firearm or deadly weapon. (HB 5337)
• Enhance penalties for crimes committed using a stolen vehicle or stolen firearms. (HB 5337)

• Expand the circumstances under which juveniles charged with certain violent crimes are automatically transferred to the regular criminal docket. (HB 5338)
• Require mandatory fingerprinting of juveniles arrested for a felony, a Class A Misdemeanor, a charge resulting from loss of life or serious physical injury, a sexual assault, a serious juvenile offense, or an offense involving use of a firearm. (HB 5338)
• Allow courts to find that releasing the juvenile offender to parents/guardians who have no control over the child is not “reasonably likely to be effective”. (HB 5338)
• Require Family Support Services interventions to be ordered at arraignment in juvenile court, rather than after adjudication. (HB 5338)
• Require judges to order the Department of Children and Families to investigate juveniles charged with a felony, a Class A Misdemeanor, a charge resulting from loss of life or serious physical injury, a sexual assault, a serious juvenile offense, or an offense involving use of a firearm. (HB 5338)
• Reestablish the Family with Service Needs (FWSN) program to provide a diversion program for children who are beyond control, run aways, or are truant in schools. (HB 5339)
• Require the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to publish firearm data which details the nature of the gun crime committed. Data should be in the aggregate and shall include, but not be limited to, firearm crimes committed by (1) those with prior felony and misdemeanor convictions who are prohibited from possessing firearms, (2) those possessing “assault weapons” who did not legally register them or are barred from possessing firearms and (3) any person who has prior criminal convictions that prohibit them from possessing firearms and ammunition. (HB 5360)

Victims’ Rights

• Dedicate additional funding to the victims’ compensation fund to reimburse victims of car theft and other property theft and damage, regardless of arrest. (HB 5458)
• Allow for the potential of restitution in the juvenile docket (potentially limited to motor vehicle offenses as a precondition for application into 2019 motor vehicle diversionary program). (HB 5458)
• Expand the victim’s compensation fund to include crimes committed by juveniles. (HB 5458)
• Provide adequate funding and resources for the Office of Victim Advocate. (HB 5458)
• Require crimes involving violence, theft of a motor vehicle, sexual offenses, or offenses involving use of a firearm to be adjudicated in the geographical area (GA) where the offense occurred, not where the perpetrator resides. (HB 5459)
• Require the Judicial Branch to study and, if possible, implement victim impact panels in juvenile delinquency proceedings. (HB 5458)
• Reestablish statewide the alert notification/GPS system to provide victims of domestic violence and law enforcement notifications of offenders who approach too close to a victim’s home or workplace. (HB 5825)

Supporting Law Enforcement

• Protect law enforcement and municipalities from being forced to settle in qualified immunity cases because any denial under current law bars them from appealing that decision until after jury decision. (HB 5361)
•  Evaluate the use of force from the perspective of a reasonable officer in the same situation, based on the totality of the circumstances known to or perceived by the officer at the time, rather than with the benefit of hindsight, and that the totality of the circumstances shall account for occasions when officers may be forced to make quick judgments about the use of force. (HB 5361)
• Provide clarity and list circumstances under which police can be decertified for undermining public confidence. (HB 5362)
• Provide towns an opportunity to purchase surplus military equipment provided it is for public safety purposes. (HB 5361)
• Restore the ability for police to request consent searches during motor vehicle stops when there is reasonable suspicion of a crime. (HB 5361)
• Require P.O.S.T. to rewrite the police pursuit policy to allow pursuit of property crime offenses. (HB 5361)
• Create a special account for families of officers killed in action. (HB 5363)

Improving Cannabis Safety

• Cap the amount of THC that is present inside a single vape cartridges. These cartridges are sold in .5 mL and 1 mL sizes so two caps are required to effectively regulate the potency of this method of ingestion. (HB 5434)
• Create parity with tobacco products by requiring the placement of a health warning label on the individual packaging of cannabis products. The health warning label shall warn the consumer that the product may be addictive, lead to birth effects and may cause psychosis. (HB 5434)
• Prohibit the sale of CBD or THC products by holders of a Retail Gasoline Dealer License. (HB 5434)
• Delay implementation of the retail sale of marijuana for recreational purposes until the Drug Recognition Experts (DRE) training programs necessary for effective police enforcement of motor vehicle laws are operational. (HB 5434)
• Require the employment and presence of a certified budtender on site at all retail cannabis locations during their hours of operation. (HB 5434)
• Prohibit marijuana consumption in all locations where alcohol consumption is prohibited. (HB 5434)
• Repeal the statute that prohibits a law enforcement officer from using the odor of cannabis as a basis to support a stop or search of a person or motor vehicle. (HB 5434)