On January 12, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard SB 37 on population parameters authored by Sen. Ford. The bill amends various statutes to update population parameters for political subdivisions based on the 2020 decennial census. The bill also updates multipliers that are based on a county's population and used in determining distributions made by the department of … [Read more...] about Population parameters
Prosecuting attorneys
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard SB 148 on prosecuting attorneys authored by Sen. Koch. The bill provides following: Permits a prosecuting attorney to purchase a crime insurance policy instead of executing a surety bondPermits the department of child services or a prosecuting attorney to file a paternity action in certain casesAllows a prosecuting attorney to request … [Read more...] about Prosecuting attorneys
Human trafficking
The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard SB 155 on human trafficking authored by Sen. Crider.This billmodifies the definition of “protected person” for purposes of the admission of a statement or videotape of an individual who is less than 14 years of age at the time of the offense but less than 18 years of age at the time of trial. The bill rem … [Read more...] about Human trafficking
Juvenile court appointed attorney for child
The Senate Appropriations Committee heard SB 180 authored by Sen. Jon Ford on appointed attorneys for children in juvenile court. The bill (1) requires the appointment of an attorney for each child in a Child in Need of Services (CHINS) case where abuse or neglect is alleged, and in a termination of parental rights (TPR) case, (2) specifies that a child’s guardian ad litem or s … [Read more...] about Juvenile court appointed attorney for child
Probate code study commission
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard SB 193 on probate code study commission authored by Sen. Sandlin and Sen. Freeman. The bill provides that the chief justice of the supreme court, or the chief justice's designee, is a nonvoting member of the probate code study commission (commission) and that eight affirmative votes are required for the commission to take final … [Read more...] about Probate code study commission