Are you a nuisance?

by Cat Urbigkit

As the Wyoming Legislature prepares to convene on Jan. 9 for its 2007 general session, legislators and their committees have been busy working with the Legislative Service Office in pre-filing draft legislation for consideration.

One such bill would allow local governments the authority to regulate nuisances. Senate File 22 would allow counties or towns to define and regulate “nuisances.”

According to the draft, local governments would be permitted to “declare and abate nuisances through resolution. No person shall create, continue or permit nuisances to exist in violation of a resolution ...”

State Sen. Stan Cooper is sponsoring Senate File 24, which would exempt the state from daylight saving time change.

Senate File 13, sponsored by Sen. Gerald Geis, would declare “marriage contracts, which are valid by the laws of the state or country in which contracted are valid in this state, except marriages when the persons are of the same sex.”

House Bill 26 would authorize great-grandparents to petition to establish visitation in specified circumstances.

House Bill 10, sponsored by the Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Interim Committee, would allow counties to regulate subdivisions of 35- to 100-acre parcels, as well as require notice of ownership and development of appurtenant mineral estates in subdivisions.

Senate File 5 would remove a prohibition on bicyclists using the roadway when there is an adjacent bicycle path.

Senate File 12 would establish a crime for sex offenses committed by corrections staff against persons under supervision by the corrections facility and would provide that consent by the victim is not a defense to specified offenses.

Senate File 3 would amend penalties for passing stopped school buses and for speeding in school zones. It would increase the minimum fine from $100 to $200, while raising the maximum fine from $750 to $1,500.

Senate File 23 would clarify that profit from gambling does not include benefits of proprietorship; provide standards for bingo games; limit games to charitable and nonprofit organizations existing for three years; limit persons authorized to operate games; and specifying uses for proceeds of bingo games.

House Bill 13 would provide for issuance of titles for and registration of “multipurpose vehicles.” These vehicles would be defined as “a motor vehicle that is designed to travel on at least four wheels in contact with the ground, has an unlade weight of at least 300 pounds but less than 1,500 pounds, has a permanent upright seat or saddle for the driver, which is mounted at least 24 inches from the ground and has an identifying number. “Multipurpose vehicle” includes off-road recreational vehicles, electric powered vehicles, golf carts and any motor vehicle meeting the criteria cited above.