The Gadfly is a series of letters offering commentary on local issues and published in the Warrensburg Gazette.

With the legislative session over half-way through, it’s time to check in on what our local representatives are doing. Rep. Deleta Williams (D-121) has added a few to the ones I wrote about back in January. Those were bills to establish a multi-cultural program, license young boaters, ban “gender bias” in schools, establish something called “service learning programs,” require drivers to give room to emergency vehicles on the roadside, and ratify the moribund Equal Rights Amendment. She’s added bills to regulate private jails and to allow traffic stops for seat belts without other causes. Let’s look at these.

• HB1565 sets up a very reasonable system to regulate private jails. It requires them to achieve accreditation, to have plans for emergencies and to allow local law enforcement access on demand. It also sets up public notification and hearing requirements (which will likely stifle any further construction in the state, but that won’t affect existing ones). The bill also allows counties to get together and vote in a regional jail district supported by a new sales tax and prohibits such a district from contracting with a private jail.
• HB1683 would allow a policeman to stop a vehicle if it was clearly visible that someone wasn’t wearing a seat belt. While I think driving without a seat belt is sheer stupidity, I’d rather not give the police yet another reason to stop a car. I doubt if the $10 maximum fine will influence anyone to buckle up. If instead they’d remove the restrictions on using as a defense someone’s failure to wear a seat belt, they might get more results without taking another step to criminalize stupidity.

Rep. Shannon Cooper (R-120), who serves the southern part of Johnson County, has introduced a couple of interesting bills and is a co-sponsor of the private jails bill. They are unlikely to be passed since he’s not in the same party as the leadership.

• HB2067 would ban “spam” email that uses a fake domain name or address or has a misleading subject. I like this bill, as one of my addresses has been used by a spammer, and my mailbox fills up with the crud.
• HB1997 would take elected officials off of the state-supported health care insurance program; more specifically, a retired legislator wouldn’t be eligible, either.
• HB2101 would close a loophole in the law that says that vehicle registration records can’t be sold for certain commercial uses.