Senate committee advances bill expanding safety zones around child-serving places

Senator Hamilton, the bills sponsor, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Senate Bill 3,040 "simply expands on existing law by extending the zone of safety where offenders are prohibited from loitering, to any facility, business or location that primarily caters to or provides services for kids." The committee immediately moved the bill and, after no questions or debate, recorded a do-pass recommendation.

The measure would broaden the existing loitering or exclusion zone in statute to cover a wider set of locations that primarily serve children, the sponsor said. Hamilton asked for a do-pass and yielded for questions; the chair reported no questions and called a voice and roll vote.

The clerk recorded votes from committee members and the chair declared the bill passed in committee with a tally reported as six ayes and zero nays. Committee action advances the bill to the next stage of consideration in the Legislature; no floor action or effective date was discussed in committee.

The committee did not cite a specific statutory citation on the floor; the bill text was presented as an expansion of existing safety-zone provisions. The committee record contains no amendments or conditions attached to the committees approval. The next procedural step is committee transmittal to the chamber calendar for possible floor consideration.