House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014 Regular Session

Posted:	January 23, 2013 09:56 AM
From:	Representative Scott Conklin
To:	All House members
Subject:	Co-Sponsorship - Convicted Arsonist Registry (Former HB766)

In the near future, I will be re-introducing legislation – House Bill 766 – to create a registry of convicted arsonists in the Commonwealth. This legislation would assist law enforcement in criminal investigations and prevent future offenses. As you may be aware, the U.S. House approved the Managing Arson through Criminal History (MATCH) Act in 2009. The proposed legislation required convicted arsonists to register their name, Social Security number, and contact information with local authorities. The statistics are alarming. There were 10,825 arson offenses from 2007 through 2011 in Pennsylvania. In 2011 alone, there were 1,775 arson offenses and property damages totaling more than $27 million throughout the state. Despite these staggering numbers, there were only 575 arrests in 2011 for arson offenses, which was a decrease of more than 13 percent from the previous year. My legislation would help law enforcement to make more arrests, and lower these disturbing statistics. I invite your co-sponsorship of this important legislation. Previous Co-Sponsors: BOBACK, COHEN, D. COSTA, DAVIS, FABRIZIO, GINGRICH, GOODMAN, HARKINS, HARRIS, HESS, KAVULICH, KIRKLAND, KORTZ, KULA, MOUL, MURT, READSHAW, THOMAS AND YOUNGBLOOD
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Introduced as HB766