SPRINGFIELD – State Representative Patrick Windhorst is reporting the successful passage of two pieces of legislation following House Committee action in Springfield this week.

HB 4183, which received unanimous approval by the House Judiciary Criminal Law Committee, would require a telecommunication company served with a warrant to provide an answer to law enforcement responding to that warrant within 36 hours of being served.

Rep. Windhorst says the change is necessary due to long delays experienced by law enforcement when seeking information from telecommunications companies.

“When a law enforcement entity obtains a warrant, often times, they enter a domicile or business and physically take the items that are listed in the warrant as evidence. With telecommunications records, it doesn’t work that way,” Windhorst said. “When law enforcement serves a warrant to a telecommunications company, they rely on that company to provide the requested information to them. The reason for the proposed change in my bill is that currently, telecommunications companies are taking weeks and sometimes months to respond to law enforcement. My bill would require phone companies to return the requested information within 36 hours so that police investigations can move more quickly and efficiently.”

Another bill, HB 4300, focuses on solving an issue that could have potentially impacted the world-famous 9-Day Trail Ride typically held in late July. Windhorst’s legislation makes a change in the definition of “campground” in the statute so that the number of camping days increases to 10 or more (instead of 6 or more) during a calendar year.

“The Shawnee Forest is a national treasure, and we want to do everything we can to support events like the 9-Day Trail Ride. When I realized that state statute would have prevented the traditional encampment, I filed HB 4300 to address the issue,” Windhorst said. “I am thankful to my colleagues in the House Public Health Committee for recognizing the importance of tourism and the economic impact of the 9-Day Trail Ride, and for offering their support for my bill.”

Having received the required Committee support, HB 4138 and HB 4300 now move to the full House of Representatives for consideration.