Governor calls special session on small-school-district splits

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. late this afternoon called a special session of the state Legislature to clear up confusion on school district splits and to address animal-cruelty penalties and an expansion of correctional facilities in Garfield County.

The special session will be held Wednesday at 10 a.m. to address four bills on those issues.

Two bills pertain to questions arising in splitting Granite and Jordan districts, including concerns that the west sides of those districts will be stuck with rising enrollments and not enough money to construct buildings to accommodate that growth.

The bill setting up a county-wide building equalization fund — not a statewide option, as several legislators had hoped — is listed on the governor's call for the session.

Lawmakers will also be asked to deal with Utah's animal-cruelty law, giving prosecutors the ability to increase the penalty to a felony in certain cases of egregious animal torture.

Advocates have been pushing for Henry's law, named after a small mixed-breed dog that was placed in an oven and baked for several minutes. The dog suffered burns, and its toes on its paws were fused together. In an earlier attack, the dog lost an eye when it was beaten with a leaf blower.

The owner's ex-husband was convicted of a Class A misdemeanor, the highest criminal penalty allowed under Utah's statute, for abusing the dog.

Utah is one of nine states across the nation that lack a felony provision for animal-cruelty cases, despite several repeat attempts in legislative sessions to get one on the books. Opponents fear enhancement of the penalties could hamper practices in animal husbandry or criminalize activities carried out by veterinarians or zookeepers, although exceptions have been detailed in previous legislative proposals.

Motivated by Henry's abuse and the bill's lack of passage in the last legislative sessions, supporters have gathered signatures petitioning Huntsman for a special session and have held protests at the Governor's Mansion.

In other business, lawmakers at the special session will address adding new beds for the inmate population in Utah. Officials want to expand the Garfield County Jail, an expansion that would typically entail having the Department of Corrections lease up to 80 beds to house state prisoners.

Corrections spokesman Jack Ford said prison officials are behind on the construction schedule of a 288-bed housing unit at Gunnison, so there is a definite need for more bed space.

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