HB 28 Arson Amendments amends the definition of "habitable structure" to mean a structure that has the apparent purpose of or is used for lodging or assembling persons or conducting business, whether a person is actually present or not.

HB 114 Theft Defense Amendments provides that it is not a defense to theft of livestock or a domestic animal that the livestock or domestic animal is sick, injured, or a liability to the owner.

HB 208 Criminal Trespass Amendments creates the class B misdemeanor offense of criminal trespass for those who step out of a boat onto a stream bed or stream bank.

HB 313 Suspect Metal Amendments adds the theft of 25 pounds of a suspect metal item to the list of offenses that can be charged as a third degree felony. It was substituted on the Senate floor to exclude lead batteries from the increased penalty. We spoke against this bill in both of its committee hearings, testifying that raising the penalty would not serve as a deterrent and the bill does not target those committing the theft, just those in possession. Despite our testimony, the bill passed both bodies.

HB 370 Utility Infrastructure Amendments makes the criminal offense of destroying, damaging, or tampering with a critical infrastructure facility a first degree felony if done intentionally and knowingly or a second degree if done recklessly. It also makes it a criminal offense to impersonate a critical infrastructure facility officer or employee, a violation of which is a class A misdemeanor but can be charged as a third degree felony if the actor intends to commit terrorism or sabotage. We worked with the sponsor and representatives from  energy and power companies to include language requiring widespread damage or injury for the heightened penalty to apply. Although we still had concerns about the bill, we didn’t outrightly oppose the substitute that made this change.

SB 219 Criminal Privacy Violation Amendments- the Skinwalker Ranch bill- expands the class B misdemeanor offense of privacy violation to include using advanced technological instrumentality to detect, observe, measure, map, or otherwise capture information or data about the property or characteristics of the property of another for which the property owner has an expectation of privacy.