Lawmakers like bill to lock up potential sex offenders

Lawmakers on Wednesday recommended draft legislation that would extend civil commitment laws to potential sex offenders. Under current law, if a person is found not competent for trial and is violent toward themselves or others, he or she can be involuntarily committed to a mental hospital. But that is not the case for someone prone to sexual violence alone. Under the draft bill presented by Rep. Brad Daw, R-Orem, to the Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee, judges would be able to commit someone whose mental illness creates a serious risk of "harmful sexual conduct" - rape, molestation, sexual battery and other direct abuses.

source: Article 'Lawmakers like bill to lock up potential sex offenders' by Roxana Orellana; www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52746354-78/law-mental-bill-committee.html.csp; The Salt Lake Tribune; 19 October 2011