In a review-and-comment hearing April 4, proponents of Proposed Initiative 59 described a measure that would change sentencing for certain child sexual assault offenses and update terminology in the criminal code related to prostitution to "commercial sexual activity." The hearing was led by legislative council staff and attended by Legislative Legal Services staff and proponents Michael Fields and Suzanne Taheri.

Staff summarized the measure’s main purposes: require courts to impose indeterminate prison terms for offenders convicted of class 4 and class 3 child sexual assault offenses where the victim is a child (with minimums tied to the presumptive range and a maximum up to the offender’s natural life), prohibit probation for these convictions, raise penalties for Internet luring intended to arrange commercial sexual activity with a child to a class 3 felony with a four-year presumptive-minimum sentence, and change offense terminology to "commercial sexual activity" consistent with human trafficking statutes.

Reviewers focused on definitional clarity and statutory cross-reference issues. They asked whether the phrase "commercial sexual activity" would adopt the same definition used in existing human trafficking statutes (18-3-503(2) was cited); proponents confirmed they intended to match the human-trafficking definition. Staff also flagged a missing occurrence of the word "Internet" in an offense name and suggested consistent headnote and title-board treatment for any headnote edits; proponents acknowledged the corrections and the need to avoid unnoted substantive changes.

Other technical questions included how the measure interacts with constitutional timing for effective dates and whether the measure’s criminal terminology is internally consistent with the uniform code. Proponents said they would review the technical comments and make targeted edits. No formal action was taken during the advisory hearing.

The hearing is part of the statutory review process that checks initiative language for single-subject compliance and drafting problems prior to petition circulation and any ballot action.