By Associated Press - Friday, September 15, 2017

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Gov. Gary Herbert is calling lawmakers into an hours-long special session Wednesday as part of a state-led effort to curb violence and drug trafficking in a Salt Lake City neighborhood near an overcrowded downtown homeless shelter.

State officials, including House Speaker Greg Hughes and Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, have spent the summer working on a new effort around Salt Lake’s shelter that includes a stepped-up police presence, arrests, drug treatment and job training and placement.

Herbert on Friday said he’ll ask lawmakers to shift some money from the state Department of Corrections budget to the Department of Workforce Services budget.

Lawmakers will also be asked to make changes that will allow Utah to continue leasing a closed street from Salt Lake City as a safe space for the homeless.

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