CLICS/CLICS2018A/commsumm.nsf
PUBLIC
BILL SUMMARY For HB18-1051
SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NATURAL RESOURCES, & ENERGY
Date Mar 1, 2018
Location SCR 357
HB18-1051 - Referred to the Committee of the Whole - Consent Calendar
|
|
|
02:00:59 PM |
Senator Coram and Senator Merrifield, co-prime
sponsors, discussed the provisions of House Bill 18-1051 concerning statutory
provisions for unattended fires. Under current law, the penalty for
leaving a campfire unattended or failing to extinguish a campfire is a
class 2 petty offense punishable by a fine of $50. The reengrossed
bill specifies that anyone who knowingly or recklessly fails to attend
to a campfire or fails to thoroughly extinguish a campfire before leaving
the site commits the offense of leaving a campfire unattended. For
a person who leaves a campfire unattended in a forested or grassland area,
or on Colorado Parks and Wildlife land (CPW), the bill changes the penalty
to a class 3 misdemeanor, punishable by a minimum $50 fine and a maximum
of six months in jail, or a $750 fine, or both. In addition, the
bill removes the requirement that counties post certain notices related
to unattended campfires. The bill applies to offenses committed on or after
July 1, 2018.
|
|
02:04:13 PM |
Mike Morgan, Director, Division of Fire
Prevention and Control in the Department of Public Safety, spoke in support
of the bill. He also responded to questions from the committee about
the bill.
|
|
02:07:08 PM |
Eric Bergman, Colorado Counties, Inc.,
spoke in support of the bill and announced that the Colorado Municipal
League also supports the bill. He also distributed a fact sheet on
the bill [Attachment E] and responded to questions from the committee about
the bill as amended in the House of Representatives.
|
|
02:09:29 PM |
Dianna Orf, Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado, spoke in support of the bill.
|
|
02:10:46 PM |
Carrie Thompson, Colorado Criminal Defense
Bar, responded to questions from the committee about the amendments to
the bill that were adopted by the House of Representatives. She also
discussed the levels of penalties for arson that are specified in Colorado
statute.
(Staff resumed recording the hearing during Ms. Thompsons testifmony after
inadvertently leaving it paused following a recess).
|
|
02:30:00 PM |
The chair closed testimony and Senator Coram and Senator Merrifield closed their remarks.
|
02:33:44 PM
|
Motion |
Refer House Bill 18-1051 to the Committee of the Whole and with a recommendation that it be placed on the consent calendar. |
|
| Moved |
Coram |
|
| Seconded |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cooke |
Yes |
|
|
Coram |
Yes |
|
|
Donovan |
Yes |
|
|
Fenberg |
Yes |
|
|
Fields |
Yes |
|
|
Garcia |
Yes |
|
|
Jones |
Yes |
|
|
Marble |
Yes |
|
|
Scott |
Yes |
|
|
Baumgardner |
Yes |
|
|
Sonnenberg |
Yes |
|
|
Final |
YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS |
|
|
