SALT LAKE CITY — State lawmakers believe in forgiveness for child sex offenders, but that doesn’t mean they should be allowed to run for school board.
A Senate committee has given a favorable recommendation to HB 64, which would prohibit a felon who is convicted of a sexual offense from serving on a school board. The bill came as a result of a 2012 race in the Granite School District where a sex offender ran for a board seat.
Sponsored by Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Salt Lake City, the bill has already cleared the House and now advances to the Senate.
Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley, said he believed in forgiveness and thought it too harsh to punish someone who had turned their life around by not allowing them to run for a board seat. He found little support.
“You can run for public office, just not the school board,” Sen. Stephen Urquhart, R-St. George, said of the measure, as he voted to give it a favorable recommendation.
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