A presentation on a Utah bill that would make it a misdemeanor crime to obstruct state or local roads began with a photo slideshow.
During the Monday hearing before a House committee, Rep. Phil Lyman flipped through pictures of “road closed” signs placed in the middle of a highway and makeshift barriers built from rocks, tree branches and piles of dirt. In what Lyman suspects might be an oversight, the law as currently written doesn’t provide any criminal penalties for blocking off these thoroughfares.
Rep. Lee Perry, a Perry Republican who chairs the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee, said his district, too, has had problems with unauthorized road closures, especially during deer-hunting season when sportsmen are trying to stake out their territory.