Bills that Created New Offenses
or Expanded Criminal Offenses
Felonies
Passed:
HB 156 Burglary Amendments passed. This bill originally added damaging, disabling, or interrupting a connected service to the first degree felony offense of aggravated burglary, but we worked with the sponsor to make significant changes. The final version of the bill creates a third degree felony of interrupting a connected service in the commission of a burglary. This includes knowingly damaging, disabling, or interrupting electrical, internet, or telephone services.
HB 238 Sexual Exploitation of a Minor Amendments was another high priority AI bill this session that passed. This bill adds artificially generated images to the child sexual abuse material statute, thereby removing the affirmative defense that no minor was actually depicted in the material. The newer version of the bill removes the original language stating that child sexual abuse material includes "a depiction that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that a minor is engaging in sexually explicit conduct." The bill is unconstitutional on its face in light of the United States Supreme Courts decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Ashcroft. We spoke against the bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Despite its patent unconstitutional nature, the bill passed. The sponsor anticipates constitutional challenges and believes the U.S>Supreme court, given its current make up, will over rule the Ashcroft decision.
We spoke against SB 50 Aggravated Assault Modifications several times, which removes language that requires an act of impeding someone’s breathing or circulation to the point of “likely produce a loss of consciousness" in order to be charged as aggravated assault. Although we don’t love the bill, we were able to include language that requires that the act be “intentionally or knowingly”. This version of the bill passed. An identical bill was run that failed, HB 150 Aggravated Assault Amendments.
Failed:
HB 97 Gun Safety Amendments would have created a waiting period between the purchase and delivery of a firearm. It also would have created a third degree felony of willfully and intentionally making a false statement when applying for an exemption to the waiting period. This bill was brought by the sponsor in an effort to reduce firearm suicides, which are the majority of gun deaths in Utah. This bill was opposed by many firearm groups in Utah and ultimately failed to be recommended to the House floor.
HB 162 Sexual Offense Amendments was this year’s version of affirmative consent. This bill sought to create the registrable third degree felony offense of sexual conduct without affirmative consent. The bill was never heard in committee.
HB 226 Burglary Modifications would have added the intent to commit stalking as a qualifying element in the offense of burglary. We spoke with the sponsor and ultimately did not oppose this bill because it would only apply if the stalking statute and otherwise relevant portions of burglary were both proven. This bill didn’t pass due to budget constraints.
Misdemeanors
Passed:
HB 147 Threat of Violence Amendments passed, which adds an imminent threat to commit a sexual offense under 76-5-4 to the Class B misdemeanor threat statute.
HB 211 Penalty for False Statement During Drug Arrest passed, creating the class B misdemeanor of an actor falsely stating to a law enforcement officer that they ingested drugs before arrest, if the officer takes the actor to a health care facility for medical treatment. We spoke with law enforcement about this being an issue, it was rarely encountered in the field. Ultimately we did not choose to make this a priority.
HB 225 Unlawful Kissing of a Child or Minor creates the class A misdemeanor offense of intentionally or knowingly kissing a minor on the mouth and penetrating the minor's mouth with the actor's tongue if the minor is under 14 or if the actor is older than the minor by 10 years or more. We worked with the sponsor to narrow the bill to forceful kissing that involves the tongue, as well as to allow the defense that the actor was not aware of the minor’s true age, which can be raised as long as the minor is over the age of 14. This can be a viable plea down option.
HB 350 Criminal Intent Amendments is a response to the Counterman v. Colorado case. The statute adds the mens rea of recklessness to verbal threat-based statutes that currently don’t have a mens rea or only have a reasonable person mens rea. It adds recklessness to criminal stalking, threatened or attempted assault on an elected official, and tampering with or retaliating against a juror to add recklessness.
SB 104 Children's Device Protection Act creates the class A misdemeanor offense of any person, with the exception of a parent or legal guardian, enabling the removal of an obscenity filter on a device in the possession of a minor. Although manufacturers and phone companies spoke against this bill, citing concerns with liability, several people from the public showed up in support. The substitute clarifies that retailers and their employees are not liable for violations of this bill, but otherwise doesn’t make any substantive changes. We worked with the sponsor and the drafting attorney and we have had it redrafted to get the mens rea to be disabled for the specific purpose of showing pornography to a child. This version of the bill passed.
Failed:
HB 130 Animal Fighting Penalties failed to pass. This bill sought to amend the crimes of dog fighting and game fowl fighting to include a class A misdemeanor offense of causing or allowing a minor to be a spectator. The amendment removed the language that would make paraphernalia prima facie evidence, but the bill was not heard on the House floor.
HB 417 School Materials Amendments would have amended the misdemeanor offense of "accessing" pornographic or indecent material on school property to "trafficking or purveying" pornographic or indecent material on school property and waived civil immunity for LEAs for a violation regarding sensitive material. This bill was never heard in committee.
HB 540 Lobbyist Disclosure and Regulation Amendments and HB 542 Lobbyist Disclosure and Regulation Act Modifications both sought to modify requirements for lobbyists, thereby expanding the class B misdemeanor offense of intentionally violating lobbying statute. Neither passed.
SB 83 Firearm Storage Requirements failed to pass, but would have created the class C misdemeanor offense of knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly failing to store a firearm in a locked container.