THE GAVEL COMES DOWN AT THE UTAH LEGISLATURE: THE AMERICAN BAIL COALITION WORKS WITH PARTNERS TO STOP DAMAGING LEGISLATION.
As the legislative session came to a close last night in Salt Lake City, the American Bail Coalition was waiting at the finish line with partners from the industry, including the Utah Association of Professional Bondsmen and Agents (UAPBA). At issue was legislation following a report of the Judicial Council that would have moved the State in the direction of New Jersey’s failed bail reform effort.
Surprisingly, the Utah State Courts brought a bill that would have delegated all legislative power to make substantive policy as to bail to the Utah judicial branch. This is another of several disturbing attempts we have seen this spring that involve members of the judiciary wading into issues of substantive criminal policy and further actively lobbying the legislative branch of government in favor of substantive reforms or delegation of legislative power to the judiciary.
Last Friday, the Courts’ bill was defeated after it failed to clear the Senate in time for passage, due to strong opposition by ABC and the UAPBA. The State Court Administrator’s Office, rather than coming back to the table to negotiate, instead hijacked the UAPBA’s bill on Monday to get rid of judges attempting to use a 10 percent to the Court scheme and then inserted their power grab into that legislation, which ultimately cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Despite this inappropriate move, ABC and the UAPBA still remained ready to negotiate in the final days of the session to find common ground, but the call to the table from the legislature to attempt to work out a compromise never came. So, at midnight last night, the gavel came down and the hijacked bill was then killed.
ABC looks forward to working with the UAPBA, other industry partners, the legislature and the State Courts to bring forward necessary and important changes to Utah’s bail system as we move forward through 2016 and beyond. While we are disappointed an opportunity was lost, we are encouraged that we can work together to build a better criminal justice
Image courtesy of desertnews.com; telegraph.co.uk
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