2004 Neighborhood Legislation

New Laws

HB 2570 (Chapter 77, Laws 2004) Licensed Liquor Premises; Closing Time extends the closing time for bars and other liquor establishments that sell or serve alcoholic beverages to 2:30 a.m. from 1:15 a.m. In response to concerns raised by the neighborhood group NAILEM with this legislation, the Legislature included $400,000 in their budget to fund additional State Liquor Investigators at the State Liquor Department. HB 2570 was signed by the Governor on April 13, 2004.

SB 1291 (Chapter 308, Laws 2004) Sex Offenders; Community Notification; Applicability stipulates that the sex offender community notification requirements may apply to individuals convicted prior to June 1, 1996 if the resources are available. SB 1291 was introduced by Senator Dean Martin and was signed by the Governor on June 1, 2004.

HB 2452 (Chapter 142, Laws 2004) Sex Offender Registration Fee; Collection increases the fees on state identification cards for sex offenders to $250. Currently, sex offenders are required by state law to obtain and annually renew special identification cards. The additional fees are to be deposited into the Sex Offender Monitoring Fund. This bill was introduced by Representatives Russell Pearce and Deb Gullett and was signed into law by the Governor on April 23, 2004.

HB 2602 (Chapter 272, Laws 2004) Sex Offenders; Community Notification requires Police Departments to include level two sex offenders for notification to the surrounding community. This bill was introduced by Representative Deb Gullett and was signed by the Governor on May 27, 2004.

Bills that Failed

HB 2136 Unauthorized Assembly of Vehicles; Penalty would have provided local law enforcement agencies the tools to address the problems associated with problem cruisers. Persons found in violation of the proposed law could have received a civil citation as well as run the risk of having their vehicle towed. The legislation only applied to cities and towns that had adopted a cruising ordinance. This bill, introduced by Representative John Nelson, passed both the Senate and the House. However, when it returned to the House for a concurrence vote it was defeated by a vote of 19 - 37.

HB 2126 Public Participation in Government: Protections would have allowed someone who is sued by a developer or big business for their opposition or participation in a governmental proceeding, the ability to file a motion for dismissal and be awarded attorney fees. HB 2126, which was introduced by Representative Deb Gullett, unanimously passed the Senate but failed to receive a final read in the House.

SB 1307 Sex Offenders; Residency Restrictions would have required courts to order sex offenders, as a condition of their probation, to not reside in a residential structure in which three or more sex offenders on probation reside or within one-quarter mile of another sex offender on probation. This bill was introduced by Senator Jim Weiers. It failed in the House Judiciary Committee by a vote of 5 - 7.

HB 2135 Sex Offenders; Registration; Lifetime Probation would have required all sex offenders that failed to register with local law enforcement agencies to be sentenced to lifetime probation. This bill was introduced by Representative John Nelson and failed to receive a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee.

HB 2418 Sex Offenders; Rental Properties; Bonding would have required landlords to fall under the slumlord statutes if they rented to more than three level two or three sex offenders. This bill was introduced by Representative Deb Gullett and was held in the Senate Rules committee.

HB 2214 Sex Offenses; Defense; Registration would have increased the amount of prison time for people convicted of sex offenses against minors. This bill was introduced by Representatives Steve Tully, Deb Gullett and John Nelson. HB 2214 failed to receive a hearing in the Senate Committee of the Whole.

HB 2594 Spirituous Liquor; Refrigerated Containers; Prohibition would have made it illegal for an off-sale retailer to sell spirituous liquor in refrigerated containers for consumption off premises. HB 2594 was introduced by Representative Karen Johnson and never received a vote on the House floor.

HB 2562 Liquor Stores; Drive Through would have prohibited new liquor stores from having drive-through windows. It would not have applied to liquor stores which were already licensed. This bill was introduced by Representative Linda Lopez and never received a hearing in the House Commerce and Military Affairs Committee.

HB 2675 Liquor Licenses; Transfer; Revocation would have provided a standard to challenging a liquor license location when a transfer occurred. The bill also increased the reapplication process period from one year to two years when a location has been denied. HB 2675 was introduced by Representative Phil Lopes and never received a hearing in the House Commerce and Military Affairs Committee.

HB 2404 Pay Day Loans would have increased current regulations on pay day loan facilities. The regulations included limiting the time period of a loan to 21 days, limited fees to ten-percent of the face value of a check, required disclosures to be in both English and Spanish, and created a real-time database so that licensees could verify that a person did not already have another pay day loan. This bill was introduced by Representative Ken Clark and failed in the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee by a vote of 4 - 6.

HB 2455 Halfway Houses; Neighborhood Notification; Schools would have required the owner or operator of a halfway house to notify the neighborhood and local area schools before the halfway house began operations. This bill was introduced by Representative Russell Pearce and never received a hearing in the House Rules Committee.

HB 2648 Bar Licensees; Firearms; Insignias would have permitted the possession of a firearm within an establishment serving liquor, other than full-service bars or wine and beer establishments. This bill was introduced by Representative Randy Graf and was held in the Senate Commerce Committee.

If you have questions about the legislation mentioned above or would like more information about how to get involved next legislative session, please call 602-256-4257.

Last modified on 04/11/2007 13:31:47