Meanwhile, two bills pertaining to animal torture are slated to be introduced today. Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake, wants to make it a felony for the first offense of egregious torture. Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, has a bill that makes animal torture a third-degree felony only after the second torture offense is committed.

Called "Henry's Law," the legislation is named after Henry, a small mixed-breed dog that was tortured by the now-ex-husband of the dog's owner. The man put Henry into a hot oven, burning the dog's paws. The man earlier had struck the dog in the eye with a leaf-blower, blinding the dog in that eye. The man was convicted of a class A misdemeanor of animal torture, but animal advocates say that such a crime should be a felony.

Legislative leaders expect the special session to last just one day, although under the Utah Constitution, once called by the governor, a special session can last 30 days.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. "will act quickly on the legislation," his spokeswoman, Lisa Roskelley, said Tuesday. "The purpose of calling the special session at this point was to make sure that it would be on the ballot if so deemed by the Legislature."

Special issues

• Questions about splitting Granite and Jordan school districts and funding equalization for school construction, stemming from a law that allows the creation of small school districts.

• Measures that would make the torture of animals a felony.

• Legislation that would allow the state to place more inmates in the Garfield County Jail, a move that will allow county officials to enlarge that facility.

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Contributing: Lisa Riley Roche.

E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com, bbjr@desnews.com, jtcook@desnews.com