New Oregon laws take on variety of issues

It’s the start of a new year, and along with your New Year’s resolutions comes a new set of Oregon laws to follow.

During last year’s legislative session, lawmakers passed 120 laws. Some of them already took effect, but a few of them started Tuesday.

Here’s a breakdown of what to expect this year:

Oregon is taking a hard line against domestic violence in 2019.

Starting Jan 1, the so-called “boyfriend loophole” will be closed.

Under House Bill 4145, someone who has been convicted of a domestic abuse misdemeanor, but who only dated their victim and has not been married to or had children with their victim, cannot buy or own a gun.

Senate Bill 1562 also tackles domestic violence by making the crime of strangulation during domestic violence a felony, instead of a misdemeanor, as it was before.

Oregon is also looking to ease some of the burdens on foster kids.

Under House Bill 4014, foster children who already get waivers to attend college will no longer have to perform 30 hours of community service to receive that benefit.

The justice system is also seeing some rule changes. House Bill 4149 bars prosecutors from making it a condition of a plea deal that defendants waive any constitutional or procedural rights.

Basically, this means that a defendant wanting to get out of jail might waive his or her rights to appear at trial or take part in rehab programs without fully understanding the implications of that decision.

Food law is also changing in Oregon.

Senate Bill 1550 will work to strengthen Oregon’s system for tracking seafood through the marketplace.

The law comes as Oregon continues to see biotoxins showing up in Dungeness crab — our most valuable seafood.

And there’s a new law that’s a bit unique.

Starting Tuesday, you can salvage roadkill to eat.

Only deer and elk are allowed and a permit must be submitted to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife within 24 hours of hitting the animal.

The law also requires that the antlers and head be surrendered to ODFW

And the state of Oregon is not liable for any damage that comes from the recovery, possession, use, transport or consumption of the animal.

To check out all of the new laws, you can head to this website and click on Session 2018: Regular

https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/Pages/Oregon-Laws.aspx