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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Senate voted down a proposal Wednesday to divert fines from alcohol violations to the Utah Attorney General's Office for increased enforcement.
SB72, sponsored by Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, would have taken up to $180,000 annually from the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to help prosecute cases such as selling alcohol to minors or violating terms of a state-issued liquor license. The fines now go to the state's general fund.
Senators who opposed the measure said they didn't like the idea of taking money from a state agency to help fund the attorney general's office.
"Law enforcement ought to have the funding in its own right," said Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper.
— Dennis Romboy
