Highlights from 02-23-2013

SEX OFFENDERS

Committee OKs fees, statewide registry bill

The House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee voted Thursday to send a measure to the House floor that would boost sex offenders' annual registry fee from $40 to $80 and raise about $150,000 annually.

Those dollars would be used to fund an electronic network designed to track sex offenders' addresses as they move to new communities across the state.

Some of Idaho's biggest counties are already plugged into an electronic registry that tracks offenders, but many smaller counties still track movement on paper.

The Associated Press

COUNTY JAILS

Senate OKs bill hiking jailers' power

Idaho county jail officers could soon have more authority to arrest inmates and jail visitors under a measure approved by the Senate Friday.

On a 21-14 vote, the Senate passed the legislation, which allows detention officers to arrest people residing in or visiting a county jail without a warrant. The law requires probable cause as a standard for the arrest.

Nampa Republican Sen. Todd Lakey said the bill makes it easier for officers to deal with attacks or drug trafficking within the jail. He said unjustified arrests by officers with animosity toward inmates would be kept in check because video recorders keep watch inside jails.

The Associated Press

FOOD STAMPS

Distribution bill pulled back

Sen. Lee Heider, R-Twin Falls, has asked the Senate to return to the Senate Health & Welfare Committee "for looking at again" SB 1053, the bill to stagger Idaho food stamp distributions over 10 days rather than doing them all on the first of the month.

Asked to explain, Heider said, "We would like to make sure that the fiscal note is correct."

The Senate agreed unanimously to return the bill to the committee; it had been on the 3rd Reading Calendar for debate in the full Senate.

Betsy Z. Russell, Spokesman-Review

HEAVY TRUCKS

Highway districts would OK travel

New legislation introduced Friday would expand the use of 129,000-pound semi-trucks statewide at the discretion of local highway districts. They'd make the call based on road and bridge structural integrity standards and public safety, according to the bill.

The bill was introduced in the Senate State Affairs Committee at the request of the Idaho Forest Group, and will be referred to the Transportation Committee for a possible hearing.

Already pending in the Transportation Committee is SB 1064, backed by the "Right Truck for Idaho Coalition," to allow the heavier rigs permanently on the 35 designated southern Idaho routes where they've been allowed for the past 10 years as a pilot project. Idaho truck weights otherwise are limited to 105,000 pounds.

Betsy Z. Russell, Spokesman-Review