State lawmakers are preparing to take up a pair of bills named after a Port Huron man who died outside a downtown bar in 2023.
The Joshua Conant Act is scheduled for a hearing November 13th before the Michigan House Committee on Regulatory Reform. House bills 5060 and 5061, sponsored by State Representative Joe Pavlov of Smiths Creek, would require security staff across Michigan to be trained in safe restraint techniques to prevent suffocation during altercations.
The proposal follows Port Huron’s own Joshua Conant Ordinance, which the city passed earlier this year to create similar training rules for local bars and venues.
Conant died in November 2023 after being restrained by security outside a Port Huron bar. Prosecutors declined to file criminal charges, but his death has led to renewed calls for statewide standards.
Port Huron City Manager James Freed says he plans to testify at the hearing alongside Conant’s family and members of the public.
Photo of Joshua Conant courtesy of the Conant family
