Senate President Jake Chapman’s bill relating to obscene material and hard-core pornography in school libraries will be debated in the full Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
The bill prohibits an administrator from knowingly providing obscene material or hard-core pornography to students in a library operated by the school that the administrator supervises or directs. Teachers are prohibited from knowingly requiring a student to read or view obscene material or hard-core pornography as part of the teacher’s instructional program or curriculum.
An administrator or teacher who is guilty of the law is guilty of a serious misdemeanor, which is punishable by confinement for no more than one year and a fine of at least $430 but not more than $2,560.
A parent or guardian of a student alleging a violation of the bill’s provisions is authorized to bring a civil action for injunctive relief against the school that employs an administrator or teacher in violation of the bill.
If a parent or guardian is the prevailing party in the civil action, the court will assess a civil penalty against the school that employs the administrator or teacher for each day a violation occurs during the pendency of the civil action, unless certain limited exceptions apply.
The county attorney will file a criminal action within 60 days of the county attorney’s receipt of information that provides the county attorney with probable cause that a violation of the bill’s provision has occurred. County attorneys who fail to file a criminal action on behalf of the state within the 60-day window may have a civil action for damages against them brought forth by the parent or guardian.
Pass it. Sign it. Implement it. Thank you. Put it in force the day it’s signed.