Legislative briefs

Wednesday, April 7, 1999 | 11:42 a.m.

Deadbeat parents shouldn't be able to avoid child support payments because they choose not to work, are deeply in debt or just spend too much on other things, prosecutors say.

The Washoe County district attorney's office urged the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to pass Assembly Bill 617, a bill providing more tools to go after the worst cases of child support avoidance.

"Sloth, a change of lifestyles, or pursuit of career changes" are not acceptable excuses for shirking child support duties, said Deputy District Attorney Joan Carthridge.

But Judiciary Chairman Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks, worried that the bill would prevent people moving from jobs even if those moves weren't calculated to help them avoid payments.

"It doesn't prevent you from changing jobs at all. It prevents you from changing jobs when you wouldn't have the ability to support your children," Carthridge responded.

Bill banning use of cell phones in cars is killed

The bill banning use of cellular phones in cars died Tuesday in the Assembly Transportation Committee without even getting a hearing.

Committee Chairwoman Vonne Chowning, D-North Las Vegas, had scheduled a hearing on Assembly Bill 328 for Tuesday, but she could not find anybody to testify for it. She said also she asked for statistics of auto accidents in Nevada because of the use of the popular phones, but she said law enforcement agencies don't break out cases in which cellular phones might be at fault.

Police agencies say they now have the authority to pull over those who are not driving safely, whether they are eating a sandwich, applying cosmetics or talking on a cell phone.

Committee approves limiting searches

A bill that would rein in bounty hunters who force their way into homes searching for those who jumped bail was approved by the Assembly Judiciary Committee Tuesday.

Assembly Bill 485, sponsored by Assemblywoman Ellen Koivisto, D-Las Vegas, requires bail agents, before forcible entry, to notify local law enforcement officials. The bill also requires that as soon as bounty hunters arrest a person, they must inform law enforcement.