HB 13 Sexual Extortion Amendments adds the threat to distribute a counterfeit intimate image to the crime of sexual extortion.

HB 19 Child Labor Amendments was an interim bill that creates enhancements for repeat child labor violations. A first offense is a class B misdemeanor, this bill makes it a class A misdemeanor on a second offense and a third degree felony on a third or subsequent. While ideally we would want input on all penalty bills, this one was not high on our priority list.

HB 21 Criminal Code Recodification and Cross References comes out of the recodification subcommittee. This year’s bill recodified chapters 9 and 10 of the criminal code. If you have stock motions or documents with statutory references from 76-9 or 76-10, please check to see if those citations need to be updated.

HB 22 Prostitution Offense Amendments was an interim bill. This bill separates existing prostitution-related offenses into separate offenses based on the ages of the individuals involved and provides new penalties for child offenders of certain prostitution-related offenses that are based on the age of the child offender. Specifically, the bill: 

• creates a second degree felony offense of patronizing a prostituted individual who is a child, the level of which changes if the actor is a minor

• creates a class A misdemeanor for entering or remaining in a place of prostitution, enhanceable to a third degree felony on a third or subsequent offense

• creates a class A misdemeanor for sexual solicitation by an actor offering compensation to an adult in exchange for sexual activity, enhanceable to a third degree felony on a third or subsequent offense

• creates a second degree felony of sexual solicitation by an actor offering compensation to a child in exchange for sexual activity, the level of which changes if the actor is a minor

• and prohibits nonjudicial adjustments for patronizing a prostituted individual who is a child​ and sexual solicitation by an actor offering compensation to a child in exchange for sexual activity.

HB 24 Limitations on Liability Amendments represents the sponsor’s desire to make employers more liable if they hire employees that have criminal offenses. As we all know, criminal records are a huge obstacle for rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders back into society and unemployment is associated with higher recidivism rates. The original version of this bill excluded many types of offenses from employer immunity, such as sexual offenses, violent offenses, offenses involving a vehicle, and substance abuse offenses, which we did not support. The second version was much better, only excluding cases of motor vehicle offenses if the employee operates a motor vehicle as part of their employment. However, the final version simply extended the sunset date for the current language of Section 78B-4-518, Limitation on liability of employer for an employee convicted of an offense, to 2029.

HB 29 Child Visitation Amendments makes it easier for third parties to obtain custody of a child if a parent is incarcerated by allowing a court to make findings regarding child abuse or neglect when deciding to grant custodial or visitation rights to someone other than a parent.

HB 31 Offender Information Amendments requires credentials and records (including restitution) to be available on a citizen offender portal in order to increase transparency to inmates on what money they owe and to have easier access to essential government documents.

HB 33 Child Welfare Reporting Amendments requires DCFS to notify law enforcement when a person knowingly makes a false report of child abuse or neglect. 

We worked on HB 38 Criminal Offenses Modifications extensively throughout the interim and the session, which is the bill targeted at organized retail theft. It defines an "organized criminal group" as three or more people who commit criminal offenses for the material benefit of the group and reduces the number of people that must be involved in the commission of a crime for it to be subject to the gang enhancement from 4 total people to 3 total people (which we were able to negotiate instead of 2). It amends the list of crimes eligible for enhancement to include criminal solicitation of a minor, property destruction, burglary, theft, identity fraud, weapons offenses, prostitution, communications fraud, money laundering, and transporting or harboring aliens. We were able to add language that would apply the enhancement only if the person had a prior conviction of one of the listed nonviolent offenses where another person was also convicted in the same case, or if the person traveled more than 50 miles to commit the crime. The bill also increases penalties for recruiting a minor to join a gang or intimidating a minor to remain in a gang from a class B to class A misdemeanor if the actor is a minor or a third degree felony if the actor is an adult and creates an elevated aggravated penalty if a dangerous weapon was used or bodily injury or serious emotional distress was caused. The newer version of the bill also increases the penalties for sexual extortion with bodily or psychological injury from a second degree felony to a first degree felony and increases fines for patronizing a prostitute or aiding prostitution. 

HB 39 Correctional Health Amendments requires the Department of Health and Human Services to contract with a telehealth psychiatric consultation provider to provide consultation services to staff responsible for inmates' psychiatric care. It also requires the DOC and a local mental health authority to cooperate to have certain offenders assessed for available community-based services, and to take steps to connect an offender to appropriate community-based services. An earlier version of the bill would have directed DHHS to prepare and implement a plan for providing opioid use disorder treatment to all inmates who suffer from opioid use disorder, but this was left out of the final version, likely due to budget constraints.

HB 40 School Safety Amendments revises school safety provisions related to personnel, building code, and other infrastructure. The chair of the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee, Rep. Wilcox, has been overseeing the state’s efforts on school safety for a few years now. An earlier version of this bill also established a penalty for sexual relations with an adult high school student by a person in a position of special trust (e.g. teachers, principals, etc.). This provision was removed, but did pass as part of a different bill this session.

HB 49 Juror Eligibility Amendments underwent many changes throughout the session. The original bill sought to allow anyone convicted of a felony to serve as a juror after 10 years had passed since their offense or prison sentence, but this was opposed by many legislators who see this population as biased against the process. The version that passed allows people with a felony conviction to serve on a jury if their conviction has been expunged or reduced to a misdemeanor.

HB 53 Litter Cleanup Amendments was on our list of suggested penalty bills to mitigate or drop. This bill originally included an increased penalty for unsecured loads, but that was removed based on our recommendation. The final bill increases the penalty for throwing lighted material from a moving vehicle from an infraction to a class C misdemeanor and adds a public awareness campaign regarding the importance of proper transportation and disposal of waste and maintaining clean roads and highways.

HB 56 Civil Commitment Modifications removes the requirement to notify the police officer when a patient is released from civil commitment and allows discharge information to be distributed online.

HB 57 Residential Solar Panel Consumer Protection Amendments requires solar retailers to register with the state to do business in Utah, prohibiting registrants that have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving theft, fraud, or dishonesty in the last 10 years.

We worked on HB 66 Ritual Abuse Amendments during the interim. Originally, the bill sought to create a new crime of ritual abuse with extreme penalties, but the compromised language creates an aggravating factor when abuse is committed as part of a ritual. It also requires law enforcement to have training on sexual assault committed during a ritual. 

HB 69 Government Records and Information Amendments creates a class B misdemeanor offense of a government officer accessing, using, copying, or releasing voter or election information unlawfully.

HB 78 Criminal Offenses Amendments removes the possibility of suspending prison for serious violent offenses, including child sex abuse or kidnapping offenses, murder, rape, aggravated sexual assault, and aggravated kidnapping. It also removes the ability to suspend prison for attempts of those cases except when the court finds it is in the interest of justice and the offender is not a risk to the victim or public, instead mandating probation. The bill also increases aggravated child abuse to a first degree felony and requires a prosecutor, when reducing the level of certain crimes in an information or as part of a plea deal, to explain their reasons on the record. We worked extensively with the sponsor, Rep. Gwynn, last year to narrow this bill, so we did not oppose it this year.

HB 80 Disorderly Conduct Amendments creates the class B misdemeanor offense of aggravated disorderly conduct on a street or highway for obstruction of traffic and failure to comply with law enforcement, which can be enhanced to a class A on a repeat offense within the year. In conjunction with CCJJ stakeholders we negotiated the penalties down from a class A misdemeanor and a third degree felony, but we still opposed this bill due to the extreme number of bills run this session that increased penalties and the fact that the protestors or demonstrators this bill targets likely won’t know that this behavior has been enhanced.

HB 82 Law Enforcement Modifications is the result of an interim task force studying “Brady systems,” or police misconduct databases. The legislator overseeing the task force, Rep. Gwynn (also a police chief in Roy City), was entirely focused on protecting due process for police officers before they can be placed on a Brady list, as well as ensuring the list was never public information. Rep. Gwynn sponsored the bill, which creates a "Brady identification system" that prosecutors "may" use to fulfill discovery obligations regarding peace officer misconduct, but does not make this system mandatory. It requires peace officers to disclose placement in the Brady system to other prosecutors, but does not make the Brady system subject to GRAMA. It also provides notice requirements for law enforcement but not criminal defendants.

HB 87 Drug Trafficking Amendments is the state’s response to increasing fentanyl cases in Utah. We put in dozens of hours researching fentanyl and drug crimes and negotiating the provisions of this bill during the interim. Originally, the bill made trafficking a fentanyl or fentanyl-related substance a first degree felony with a mandatory minimum prison term. We were able to get the mandatory prison reduced to a presumption if the actor is not a safety risk and is sentenced to 48 months of probation (prison does not apply to juveniles). Trafficking amount of fentanyl is defined as "100 grams or more of any composition or mixture, including pills, that contains any quantity of fentanyl." Though all the research agrees that the problem we have in Utah is a “demand” problem and that going after the easily-replaced population of drug traffickers is not an efficient way to decrease drug crime, the sponsor insists this bill will “disrupt the flow” even if it has no deterrent effect. Because we were able to get rid of the mandatory prison term, we did not oppose the bill.

HB 92 Private Individual Force and Detention Amendments amends provisions for a lawful citizen's arrest to: require that law enforcement is contacted; remove criminal and civil liability for the citizen for all but gross negligence; allow the use of "reasonable" force by a citizen for a fleeing individual; and remove the ability of the citizen to take the detained person to a magistrate. The sponsor wants to be sure that citizens acting in good faith are protected, but law enforcement did testify to some language changes they made, with a strong preference that people contact law enforcement so they avoid inadvertently kidnapping someone.

HB 96 Fraud Amendments was on our list of penalty bills that should be dropped outright, but we were able to get some of the enhancements removed before it passed. The original bill established a tiered penalty enhancement scheme to the crime of defrauding creditors based on the value of the unpaid balance. The newest version removes some of the penalty tiers, including a second degree felony, and significantly raises the threshold for the higher penalty. As written, the bill makes the crime of defrauding creditors a class A misdemeanor, which can be enhanced to a third degree felony if the unpaid balance owed to the creditor on the property at the time of the act is or exceeds $10,000. We see this version of the bill as something that will be used sparingly and may actually provide another plea down/negotiating alternative in some fraud or theft cases.

Similarly, we worked to narrow HB 105 Criminal Code Modifications with Rep. Gwynn last year so likewise did not oppose. This bill does the following: 

• makes attempted murder a first degree felony with an indeterminate prison term of five years to life

• makes sexual relations with an adult high school student by a person in a position of special trust a third degree felony and removes consent as a defense

• creates the crime of indecent exposure of another individual in public, which can be a class C or B misdemeanor depending on level of exposure or a class A if committed in front of a child under 14

• repeals Title 76, Chapter 8, Part 8, Sabotage Prevention. 

The original version had no exceptions for juveniles in the “pantsing” portion of the bill and included a broader list of individuals that could be charged if they engaged in relations with an 18-year-old high school student. We also tried to prevent attempted murder from becoming a 1st degree felony, but legislators were unwilling to remove that change. HB 105 failed last year because it didn’t receive funding, but it was funded and passed this year. 

HB 112 Motor Vehicle Safety Inspection Modifications prohibits a police officer from requesting the revocation or suspension of an individual's vehicle registration or driver license for a window tinting violation. We are still supportive of this, but the original bill was much stronger, prohibiting officers from using window tinting as a primary reason for stopping a vehicle. 

HB 127 Sexual Crime Amendments increases the prison terms for the crimes of rape, object rape, and forcible sodomy from 5 years to life to 10 years to life when committed against an incapacitated adult. It was amended at the last minute to bring the number down from 15 years to life. We did not love this bill but already made it as narrow as we could, since the proponents of the bill were pushing for even more severe punishment.

HB 128 Dangerous Weapons Recodification and Cross References is largely a recodification and clarification bill of firearm offenses. Originally, the bill only sought to clarify that the crime of possessing a dangerous weapon on school premises also applies to minors. This is still in the bill, but it also adopted a lot of language from HB 133 Dangerous Weapons Amendments when that bill did not pass out of Senate committee. Many stakeholders were concerned that HB 133 increased youth access to firearms, though the sponsor maintained that everything in the bill was already legal.

HB 148 Child Sexual Abuse Amendments passed. The original bill increased the penalty for sexual offenses when the actor traveled over 50 miles to commit the offense. We were able to negotiate it down to an aggravating factor, which will be applicable in cases where the actor traveled more than 45 miles from the actor's residence to commit the offense or if the actor paid a child to travel more than 45 miles from the child's residence for the actor to commit the offense. Even though the bill is loosely based on the theory that offenders who go out of their way to commit crimes are generally higher-risk, 45 miles is an arbitrary number, but Rep. Wilcox made the changes we requested and we withdrew our opposition. 

HB 154 Punitive Damages Amendments removes the requirement for the state to collect a portion of punitive damage payments that are received in DUI cases.

HB 159 Protective Order Amendments enacts the Uniform Recognition of Canadian Domestic Violence Protection Orders Act, a statute recognizing and enforcing Canadian protective orders in Utah. 

HB 163 Adult Probation and Parole Amendments establishes the Division of Adult Probation and Parole in its own section of code.

HB 167 Re-Entry Modifications expands on reentry and reintegration goals for the criminal justice system. It directs coordinating councils to adopt goals to connect those on probation or parole with resources (such as housing, employment, and treatment) and requires a local mental health authority to coordinate with the DOC when possible to provide continuous services to those on probation or parole. It expands on fresh start provisions, such as prohibiting a public employer from excluding an applicant from an initial interview for an expunged conviction or a juvenile arrest or for incarceration that was more than 5 years ago (reduced from 7 years). The bill also allows the DOC to procure or adopt technology to coordinate services with outside organizations involved in supporting individuals on probation or parole and creates a special revenue fund for DOC for reentry so they can accept donations.

HB 173 Controlled Substances Act Amendments adds tianeptine and phenibut to Schedule I of the list of controlled substances.

HB 183 Noncitizen Restricted Person Amendments provides that non-citizens with applications pending for asylum or temporary protected status are restricted persons not allowed to possess, purchase, transfer, or own dangerous weapons. Since non-citizens are already restricted, we did not oppose this bill.

HB 190 Motorcycle Amendments creates additional motorcycle infractions, including lane-splitting, performing a wheelie on a highway, and driving without a license plate and allows for the suspension of the driver's motorcycle endorsement or license for violations. The original bill also allowed for the seizure of the motorcycle, but that was removed.

HB 195 Firearm Retention Amendments prohibits a plea in abeyance from including a condition that the defendant forfeits their firearms (unless the offense restricts firearm possession). It requires firearms seized by law enforcement as a result of a criminal offense to be returned if the individual is not restricted and may lawfully possess the firearm. Prosecution and victims groups were opposed to this bill and asked for a carveout for domestic violence cases. There was some disagreement over what DV cases restrict someone from owning a firearm, and prosecutors want to maintain the ability to negotiate the gun forfeiture in plea deals. The sponsor declined to make this carveout since anyone not restricted can just go buy another gun the same day anyway. 

HB 196 Vehicle Traction Amendments creates an infraction for a violation of controlled-access highways.

HB 197 Criminal Conduct Amendments amends the crime of enticement of a minor to include communicating with anyone with the intent to solicit a minor, not just the minor, and provides elements to consider when the court is determining coercion in these offenses, including age, vulnerability, emotional harm, and fraud. It also requires a person petitioning for removal from the registry to have a court order authorizing their removal. This bill comes out of the belief that Utah is becoming a “sanctuary state” for sex offenders, who are moving to Utah to get removed from the registry.

HB 199 Substance Use Treatment and Enforcement Amendments was another penalty-increasing bill that we fought to get the worst provisions removed. The sponsor, Rep. Clancy, works in law enforcement and ran this bill as part of his effort to address the opioid crisis, but his strategy appears to be rolling back many JRI reforms. Originally, this bill sought to increase penalties for a Schedule I or II offense, making the enhancement from a class A misdemeanor to a third degree felony on a second offense instead of on a third offense (as it was before JRI). Rep. Clancy’s stated intent was to move more cases through drug court, but due to the fiscal note, and the pushback from many different stakeholders, he agreed to drop that provision. The final bill does the following:

• Creates a second degree felony for maintaining a drug-involved premise, thereby banning Supervised Consumption Sites (SCS). 

• Prohibits syringe exchange at drug-free zones. Explicitly requires harm-reduction programs to ensure recovery is a key goal. Creates a framework for data collection on opioids. 

• Creates new best practices for first responders who perform overdose reversals, with access to county health resources. 

• Allows for Mobile MAT Clinics. 

• Extends Utah Nuisance law to cover drug fumes and codifies the federal Crack House Statute to implement more place-based policing.

A lot of our time this session was spent on HB 207 Sexual Offense Revisions and SB 144 Sexual Crimes Amendments. These bills represent a rollback of our heavily negotiated compromise with prosecution and Sen. Wilson two years ago in Sen. Wilson’s SB 167 Sexual Exploitation Amendments, instigated primarily by the AG’s office. We met with several stakeholder groups and legislators on these bills, including the AG’s office multiple times, to try and compromise again, but they were unwilling to make any changes. We tried to draft a substitute bill with Sen. Weiler, but the House pushed back on him and he did not run it. Our language would have stated that the felony offense of enticing a minor must have actually involved a minor and added a provision to sexual exploitation to include the creation of a link to a computer-based file or cloud-based file to allow repeated viewing of child sexual abuse material. We testified against both bills in committee numerous times, and although there was heated debate among committee members, both bills ended up passing. HB 207 was amended on the last day to exclude first degree felonies from the enhancements, largely due to pressure to reduce fiscal notes. The final versions of the bills do the following:

• makes aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor over 14 a 1F instead of a 2F

• increases the minimum prison term for sexual offenses by five years for each prior conviction and makes it mandatory

• amends the definition of child sexual abuse material to include a depiction of a minor over 14 years old observing or being used for sexually explicit conduct

• amends the crime of sexual exploitation of a minor to include accessing child sexual abuse material with the intent to view

HB 222 Access to Traffic Accident Evidence requires that an attorney for a person who is party to a civil or criminal matter that requests a protected record must be provided the unredacted record if the attorney provides a letter stating that it will only be used as evidence and give this a maximum cost of $100.

We supported HB 224 Inmate Reentry, Finances, and Debt Modifications, which requires the courts to suspend interest on debt and other payments during an individual's release from prison and requires the DOC to give regular notice of debt and financial information to individuals in prison. 

HB 226 Criminal Amendments was another high priority oppose bill. The original version of this bill was much worse, seeking to raise the incarceration term for all class A misdemeanors from 364 days to 365 days. This seemingly minor change would trigger expedited deportation for non-citizen offenders, in many cases removing their right to see an immigration judge. As we pointed out to the committee and sponsor, this would ONLY impact non-citizens that are here in the U.S. lawfully, since those here unlawfully are already subject to immediate deportation. The original version also sought to allow the dissolution of a nonprofit convicted of allowing the landing of aliens or human smuggling. After countless hours working on this with other defense-minded stakeholders, the final bill was narrowed to remove the provision on nonprofits and limit the sentencing enhancement to DUIs and offenses against another person. The bill still creates a rebuttable presumption at pretrial that someone is at risk of fleeing if they are in the U.S. unlawfully or if they have been charged with an offense that could revoke their lawful presence status and requires a sheriff to notify a relevant federal immigration authority when releasing a felony or class A misdemeanor offender who is in the U.S. unlawfully. We believe this bill and others like it this session are based on the false narrative that non-citizens offend at a higher rate than citizens, when the opposite is true.

HB 234 Motorcycle Safety Amendments increases a fine for someone who drives a motorcycle without an endorsement to $350, but provides for a waiver if they obtain the endorsement within 30 days.

HB 252 State Custody Amendments prohibits DHHS from initiating any hormone treatments or sex characteristic surgeries for transgender inmates and does not allow opposite sex individuals to share a youth room in a detention facility or a secure care facility. It also changes the age of the youth for which an actor can commit the crime of custodial sexual relations against from 21 to 25.

HB 267 Public Sector Labor Union Amendments makes it a class B misdemeanor for public employers or members of a labor organization to use public money or property to support union activity. Unions were a large topic of discussion in the Legislature this session.

HB 273 Law Enforcement Investigation Amendments went through three iterations. The original bill allowed for reverse-keyword warrants, which we were against, and the last version banned them outright, which we supported. The newest, and final, version allows for reverse-keyword information to be used by law enforcement if they obtain a search warrant for a violent felony offense or if they demonstrate an imminent, ongoing threat to public safety. Our long-time ally Libertas led the effort on this bill.

HB 276 Civil Commitment Revisions does a slew of things in the commitment space, including: 

• providing that patients have the right to, at their request, postage, visitors (including attorneys, clergy, and peer specialists), nutrition, declarations of treatment, record sharing, phone calls, and personal clothing (and an explanation if any are denied)

• prohibiting retaliation against a patient for a grievance procedure

• requiring a designated examiner to conduct an examination by telehealth unless they determine that it was not sufficient the first time

• requiring a court to dismiss a petition for involuntary civil commitment if both examiners determine that the patient does not meet the criteria

• requiring a court to hold a remote hearing on an application for involuntary commitment unless there is good cause to hold it in person

• clarifying code around when people with an intellectual disability or related condition can be temporarily committed in emergencies and requires them to be notified immediately of their right to an attorney

• clarifying that a court can only order an initial competency evaluation for defendants located within the state

• providing that when there is a conflict in the opinions of forensic evaluators, if a party seeks an additional competency evaluation then the party is responsible for selecting and paying the evaluator

• removing the six month time period from the requirement for the department to provide an updated juvenile competency evaluation after the attainment period

• shortening the time period that DHHS is required to notify prosecution of the release of the committed individual from 60 days to 15 days

• requiring prosecutors to notify the department within 15 days of the notice to release if they intend to refile charges. If the case is refiled and competency is raised again, the department is required to delay release until after the competency proceedings. 

We have been involved in competency and commitment legislation for several years and were supportive of this legislation.

HB 278 Massage Therapy Amendments expands the class A misdemeanor offense for unlawful conduct of a massage therapist to include a range of offenses, such as operating without a license or concealing someone in the massage establishment and refusing to provide identification to law enforcement.

HB 287 Stalking Amendments creates an exception to the stalking statute for business owners engaging in conduct "reasonable and necessary" to protect their interest, as long as the conduct is not directed toward a cohabitant.

HB 290 Bicycle Lane Safety Amendments attaches an infraction penalty to the unlawful behavior of obstructing a sidewalk with a vehicle, animal, or object.

Rep. Lisonbee ran HB 297 Expungement Amendments as a continuation of cleaning out the automatic expungement backlog, but it also made some substantive changes to expungement, including allowing the bureau to challenge an expungement order if the offense is not eligible for expungement. It also allows a court to consider expunged criminal records when issuing a civil protective order and precludes expungement if there is a civil protective order against the individual. And, due to the changes in DUI statute in 2005, it makes DUI convictions before the change ineligible for automatic expungement (requiring the individual to go through the petition process).

HB 302 Minors in State Custody Amendments requires the Department of Health and Human Services to apply for a Medicaid waiver to ensure that minors in the custody of the department who receive federal benefits will maintain resource-eligibility for Medicaid. It also requires DHHS to evaluate whether a minor in the custody of the department is receiving or is eligible to receive federal benefits and requires them to offer financial literacy training to the minor.

HB 308 Driving by Minors Amendments allows an individual with a learner permit to drive with a licensed adult other than a parent.

HB 312 Criminal Justice Amendments is Rep. Lisonbee’s bill expanding the definition of “habitual offenders” as it pertains to misdemeanants, directing how treatment of this population should differ as it comes to pretrial release and sentencing. A habitual offender is defined as an individual who meets any of the following criteria:

• Has been convicted in at least five previous cases, with each case involving one or more felony offenses, and each conviction occurred within the five-year period immediately preceding the day on which the defendant is convicted of a new felony offense.

• Has been charged with one or more felony offenses in at least nine separate cases, and a felony charge in each case was issued within the five-year period immediately preceding the day on which the defendant is convicted of a new felony offense.

• Has been convicted in at least nine previous cases, with each case involving one or more misdemeanor offenses, and each conviction occurred within the three-year period immediately preceding the day on which the defendant is convicted of a new misdemeanor or felony offense.

• Has been charged with one or more misdemeanor offenses in at least 19 separate cases, and a misdemeanor charge in each case was issued within the three-year period immediately preceding the day on which the defendant is convicted of a new misdemeanor or felony offense.

The bill also does the following:

• Requires a jail to contract with another jail before releasing someone due to overcrowding if their arrest or conviction is for a violent offense, felony drug offense, fentanyl offense, or DUI with injury or death, or if they are a habitual offender, if they have been arrested or convicted of another crime in the last 30 days, or if they have an outstanding warrant for failing to appear

• Requires jails to prioritize housing county inmates over federal inmates

• Prohibits the Department of Corrections from housing inmates in a private correctional facility, unless the purpose is federal immigration detention or civil detention

• Adds strangulation or choking to DV in the presence of a child 

• Prohibits the use of state funds for a syringe exchange program

• Requires a county sheriff to report statistics on releases due to overcrowding and pretrial release

• Prohibits releasing someone on a financial condition is the offense is a misdemeanor offenses for DV or DUI

The original bill also had provisions like criminalizing mask wearing in public spaces and allowing city prosecutors to prosecute felonies when county prosecutors failed to do so, as well as several provisions related to bail, but all of these were removed due to significant opposition. 

HB 323 Correctional Drug Enforcement Amendments requires the Department of Corrections to create a drug abuse and trafficking unit within the department to combat illegal drug abuse and trafficking by inmates and offenders on probation and parole and enhance coordination with law enforcement agencies.

HB 329 Homeless Services Amendments is another other bill from Rep. Clancy that originally aimed to address homelessness and substance abuse with increased penalties. This original version added homeless shelters to the list of places where drug offenses are subject to enhanced penalties, but this was removed. The passed bill only requires a homeless shelter to maintain a zero-tolerance policy for illegal drugs, which includes allowing police to conduct random drug checks using K9 units and providing names and identifying information on clients that are a risk to public safety. It also requires service providers to report annually on individual clients and their progress in reducing illicit substance use and reducing criminal activity. 

HB 334 Guardianships and Supported Decision-Making Agreements Amendments creates the position of "supporter" in guardianships and supported decision-making agreements, which excludes anyone with: a conviction for harm, theft, or financial crime; a protective order; or a substantiated allegation of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

HB 337 Property Manager Requirements adds property manager license applicants to the list of those who require a criminal background check.

HB 339 Law Enforcement Investigation Modifications exempts law enforcement officers from body camera requirements if they are assigned to a narcotics unit or task force engaged in undercover operations. As the law is currently written, body camera requirements (which we helped write) must be adopted completely by agencies using body cameras. Some agencies wanted to start using body cameras but have chosen not to because of the requirement to put them on undercover officers, and this bill makes that carveout for them. The sponsor, Rep. Gwynn, believes that this bill will increase the number of agencies using body cameras, which we hope will be true. If the exception is abused, we intend to readdress the statute in a future session.

HB 347 Social Services Program Amendments amends provisions regarding atypical anti-psychotic, psychotropic drugs, and the Medicaid preferred drug list and requires the Division of Integrated Healthcare to certify case managers.

HB 352 Geologic Carbon Storage Amendments creates a class B misdemeanor offense for violating geologic carbon storage regulations, which includes making false representations in a report or destroying or falsifying a report.

We worked on HB 353 Criminal Code Amendments with Rep. Wilcox for the last year. After hearing our testimony time and again of how many criminal offenses get added each year, he asked several groups to bring him ideas of offenses that are used so we could repeal or reduce them. The bill ended up only reducing the penalty for using a name without authorization in a charity solicitation from a class B misdemeanor to an infraction and repealing the offense of abuse of a flag, but it also requires state agencies to review all criminal offenses they enforce every three years and recommend which should be clarified or repealed, or if the penalties should be reduced or increased. We support the effort to be more cognizant of the kinds of penalty bills that get passed, but in the face of all of the other bills increasing penalties or creating new offenses this year, repealing one or two charges that aren’t used doesn’t really address the issue of overcriminalization. We hope to make more progress in this area in future years, particularly in how bills that modify penalties are drafted and legislated. HB 353 was not signed by Governor Cox, and was very nearly vetoed, not because he opposes this effort, but because he thinks the state can do more to coordinate criminal justice efforts. He is creating a criminal justice task force to look at these issues, although we are not confident that the membership will promote very many changes to the current system, seeing as how they all independently voted to support most of the legislation this year increasing penalties. See the Governor's executive order creating the task force here: Executive Order 2025-02 Enhancing Utah's Criminal Justice Strategy.

HB 354 Criminal Justice Revisions is Rep. Wilcox’s annual data bill. It requires data to be collected from many state and county agencies, including DUI crash data, lost and stolen firearms, false allegations/charges, cases in which a victim recants, and time spent on criminal cases by county attorneys. It requires the DOC to conduct a risk assessment for every registrant on the Sex, Kidnap, and Child Abuse Offender Registry and requires county jails to collect biometric and personal information on people arrested that they do not intend to retain. Ideally, the State will eventually be able to analyze the risk assessment data collected to determine how accurate risk assessments are to determine whether a risk-based registry would be a more effective approach.

HB 358 Criminal Sexual Conduct Amendments creates the third degree felony of unlawful sexual activity with a child using immersive virtual reality when the actor knows the avatar is controlled by a child. We were able to negotiate this penalty down to a class A misdemeanor offense when the actor is less than 10 years older than the minor. It also creates the class A misdemeanor of custodial solicitation of sexually explicit conduct from a person in custody, regardless of consent. This bill might go against the Ashcroft decision, but it passed.

HB 366 Access to Call Location Information Amendments requires mobile telecommunications services to provide law enforcement with communication device location information as quickly as possible when a law enforcement warrant is in regards to an individual who is missing and in danger. There is a large definition of communication device location information in the bill, including call logs, GPS tracking data, application data, browser history, email records, photos and videos, SMS and MMS messages, and contact details. However, this bill does not alter the warrant requirement to obtain this information, it essentially just moves a request for a missing person’s information to the top of the phone carrier’s stack to speed up the process. The newest version of the bill changed the language from a “request” for this information into a “warrant,” which we were more comfortable with. 

HB 368 Local Land Use Amendments allows a municipality to impose criminal penalties (in this case, a class B misdemeanor) for applicants that submit an identical plan within two years of knowingly submitting a nonqualifying identical plan.

HB 383 Court Fine Amendments was a very good bill from our defense colleague Rep. Miller which allows a court to reduce any unpaid amount of the criminal accounts receivable, except restitution, by an amount equivalent to what the defendant paid for court-ordered treatment if the court finds that not doing so will impose manifest hardship.

HB 388 Antiquities Protection Amendments directs the State Historic Preservation Office to conduct a statewide media campaign that informs the public of crimes associated with cultural site protection and how to report them. We appreciate when the state adopts crime-prevention strategies that are on the front-end of criminal justice.

HB 405 Human Trafficking and Smuggling Amendments was a top priority oppose bill for us this session from Rep. Pierucci. The original version of this bill increased several penalties, including: making human trafficking for labor, human trafficking for sexual exploitation, benefitting from human trafficking for labor or sexual exploitation, and human smuggling first degree felonies; making benefitting from human smuggling a second degree felony; establishing a mandatory prison term of 10 years for the crimes of human trafficking of a child, benefitting from child trafficking, aggravated human trafficking, aggravated human smuggling, and human trafficking of a vulnerable adult. Rep. Pierucci agreed to remove the penalty enhancements for human trafficking for labor, human smuggling, or benefitting from these two offenses, but we disagreed with her and other members of the Legislature over the mandatory minimum sentence for aggravated human trafficking. The final version still increases penalties for aggravated human trafficking, which includes, among other things, trafficking 10 or more individuals or trafficking them for longer than 30 days. We argued that this broad definition loops in a lot more behavior that may not otherwise amount to trafficking, but since the bill didn’t change the definition, only the penalty, members of the Legislature were not responsive to our request to disqualify these two elements from the mandatory minimum sentence.

HB 419 Real Estate Revisions requires the Division of Real Estate to prioritize the investigation of criminal allegations over others and to use a risk-based approach based on potential harm. It also removes a class A misdemeanor penalty for violating the Real Estate chapter, which was enhanceable to a third degree felony.

HB 425 Department of Public Safety Fee Amendments increases the annual fee for offenders on the Sex, Kidnap, and Child Abuse Offender Registry from $100 to $125. It also directs the Bureau of Criminal Identification to establish fees relating to concealed firearm permits for residents and non-residents and to share data with the Legislature.

HB 430 Security and Land Restriction Amendments creates a third degree felony when someone knowingly purchases an interest in land on behalf of a restricted foreign entity. The original bill established this as a class A misdemeanor, and it is unclear why the penalty was increased in the final version.

HB 436 Impaired Driving Amendments requires law enforcement to report crash data that may be connected to DUIs that resulted in injury or death and adds this data to the public safety portal.

HB 437 Interdicted Person Amendments creates a special designation on someone’s license/ID indicating that they are a DUI-interdicted person that is prohibited from purchasing alcohol for a time period determined by the court. It allows a judge to implement a requirement to get this ID at sentencing and requires this designation in cases of extreme DUI. We testified that bills like these are a better idea than just increasing penalties, since they attempt to prevent future crime rather than just criminalizing at a higher rate after the fact, but we are concerned that judges will order this in many other kinds of cases. We are also concerned with the lack of timeframe specified. If the bill causes significant problems for defendants, we may attempt to work with the sponsor to make future changes.

HB 465 Law Enforcement Agency Amendments is a response to rising crime rates in Salt Lake City. The bill targets them specifically, requiring the city to enter into an interagency agreement related to public safety concerns with the Department of Public Safety and to submit a report to the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee regarding the interagency agreement.

HB 477 School Trespass Amendments narrows the class B misdemeanor offense of criminal trespass on a school to exclude LEA offices and individuals giving public comment in a local school board meeting that comply with relevant restrictions.

HB 478 Brine Mining Amendments creates a class B misdemeanor for misrepresenting information on a report under the Brine Conservation Act and provides that a criminal proceeding for this violation must occur no later than two years from the date of the alleged violation. 

HB 490 State Parks Modifications originally provided that violations of the Division of State Parks statute are an infraction unless otherwise specified, but this was removed and the bill no longer impacts anything criminal.

HB 491 Behavioral Health Modifications requires the Department of Public Safety to survey all law enforcement agencies in the state and publish a publicly searchable registry of whether an agency is or is not available to receive a voluntarily committed firearm in accordance with safe harbor provisions. It also requires a behavioral health receiving center to comply with licensing requirements from the Department of Health and Human Services and allows DHHS to enact rules and assess and collect fees in relation to the licensing of behavioral health receiving centers.

HB 505 Homeless Services Revisions creates the class C misdemeanor of unsanctioned camping on state property.

HB 534 Adult Protective Services Amendments allows Adult Protective Services (APS) to make a substantiated finding of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable adult if the alleged perpetrator refuses to provide documents subpoenaed or requested by APS.

HB 562 Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Amendments was this year’s bail bill. Early on in the 2024 interim, the bail bondsmen told us that they were going to try to reinstate a financial schedule this session. We had a choice to either oppose whatever bill they drafted outright or to add our own defense-positive provisions that would outweigh the negatives of having a financial schedule. It was extremely important to us and to the floor sponsor that SLLDA and the IDC were involved and overall supportive of the bill, and we worked closely with them to come up with the provisions that would make the bill more favorable to defense than what we were giving up by reinstating a bail schedule. There were many hurdles to getting this bill passed, including a still unfulfilled bail data request from the AOC. The bill failed its initial Senate vote, then passed when it was reconsidered. Despite the many changes and concessions made at the request of prosecutors, prosecutors actively opposed the bill right up to the very last day of the session. However, the bill did end up passing and defense stakeholders anticipate that the final result will be more beneficial to us than what is the current practice. The final provisions of the bill included the following provisions:

• Clarifies that a judge may reconsider whether a person should receive bail after evidence is presented at a preliminary examination

• Clarifies that a request for release that has not been fully presented to and ruled upon by a judge at an initial appearance does not constitute a pretrial detention hearing 

• Requires a magistrate to consult a bail schedule for recommended bail amounts for various levels of offenses while also considering the defendant’s risk and ability to pay 

• Prohibits a prosecutor from omitting any known information that may be favorable to the defendant when asking for a no-bail hold 

• Requires a court to make a good faith effort to appoint a different judge to conduct a detention hearing if the assigned judge is unable to conduct the hearing within 14 days of a first appearance

• Prevents a court from ordering a no-bail hold solely on the basis of a failure to appear 

• (Non-bail clean-up language on restitution) Includes consensus clean-up language that resolves ambiguities in current practices to collect and determine restitution - mainly correcting gaps that have been discovered since a larger restitution bill passed in 2021

HCR 6 Concurrent Resolution Urging Changes to Federal Homelessness Regulations calls for a waiver from federal homelessness program requirements (including housing first policies) to increase the state's flexibility to address homelessness, specifically a request to allow housing based on sobriety, goal-setting, and accountability. 

HJR 3 Joint Resolution Regarding State Prisoner Placement in Iron County Correctional Facility supports jail expansion as beneficial to both the state and the counties through a contract with the DOC and approves contracting for additional beds dedicated to housing state inmates in Iron County.

SB 14 Private Sale of a Firearm Sunset Review Amendments removes the sunset date for Section 76-10-526.1, Information check before private sale of a firearm.

SB 18 Election Fundraising Amendments makes it a class A misdemeanor to make a federal contribution with the intent to influence the governor or a state official to take or not take an action or to reward the governor or a state official for taking or not taking an action.

SB 24 Child Abuse and Torture Amendments is another bill we worked on during the interim. This bill creates a first degree felony offense of child torture for serious injuries inflicted in an "exceptionally cruel or exceptionally depraved manner" or committed as a "course of conduct" (2 or more acts) with a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years. It adds psychological injuries to the child abuse statute, defined as "identifiable mental or emotional harm, damage, impairment, or dysfunction." We opposed this bill and the creation of a new crime addressing behavior that is already a second degree felony, particularly because there was no data showing that these offenders were not already serving long sentences. We also spoke against the erosion of judicial discretion and highlighted the recent uptick in mandatory minimum legislation. We were able to get language in the bill that allows for a prison term step down of 7 years or 4 years, if the court finds it is in the interest of justice.

SB 41 Sex, Kidnap, and Child Abuse Offender Registry Amendments recodified the Registry. This was a significant piece of legislation that was intended to make the code much easier to read. Please update any motions or documents that cite to sections of this code.

SB 44 Professional Licensure Background Checks creates a standard background check procedure for the Division of Professional Licensing and adds many professions to the list of those requiring a comprehensive criminal background check. In regards to licensees who failed to accurately disclose their criminal history, it changes the language from DOPL “will” revoke their license to DOPL “may" revoke their license.

SB 55 Unauthorized Use of Residential Real Property Amendments creates a second degree felony for property damage or destruction by a trespasser in a residential dwelling if damages are $1,000 or more and a second degree felony of fraudulent advertisement, sale, or lease of residential real property when property is sold that is not owned by the seller. It also creates a process for an owner to request that the sheriff immediately remove a trespasser occupying a residential dwelling. We met with the sponsor, Sen. Balderree, but she was not open to modifying the bill.

SB 59 Commercial Driver License Revisions provides that a driver license reinstatement does not apply to a CDL disqualification imposed due to DUI or other motor vehicle convictions.

SB 68 Child Welfare Worker Protections separates the crime of assault against a child welfare worker and the crime of making a threat of violence against a child welfare worker into different sections and adds assaulting or threatening the family members of a child welfare worker to the respective sections. The sponsor agreed to reduce the penalty from a class A to a class B, but the penalty did not change from a class A misdemeanor.

SB 70 Consumer Reporting Amendments prohibits a consumer reporting agency from reporting an arrest or charge not resulting in a conviction or an expunged or pardoned conviction, though it does allow a consumer reporting agency to report a pending arrest or charge that has not reached a final disposition. This was information that was previously available going back 7 years.

SB 74 Corrections Modifications prohibits those committed to DOC custody from requesting a sex designation change on their birth certificate. It provides that a government entity is not required to respond to people on parole regarding records requests and allows the DOC to independently investigate criminal allegations against individuals in custody and employees of the department. It also modifies the requirements for lethal injection to require any substance used to cause death without severe pain.

SB 76 Marriage Amendments changes the allowed age difference between a minor and the person they are marrying from seven years to four years. We tracked this bill because solemnizing an illegal marriage of a minor is a third degree felony. 

SB 77 Public Safety Animal Amendments changes the language in the statute regulating police canines to apply to all public safety animals.

SB 79 Technical Code Amendments makes technical changes throughout the criminal code to correct capitalization and use of gendered-language.

SB 82 Autopsy Photo Amendments makes it a class B misdemeanor to share an autopsy photograph, but we worked with Sen. Pitcher to exclude defense counsel from this offense.

SB 83 Law Enforcement Policy Requirements requires a law enforcement agency to adopt a policy regarding their process for investigations into criminal violations of stalking injunctions, jail release agreements, jail release court orders, or protective orders. The policy must include best practices for investigating repeat violations and information and referral resources for victims.

SB 87 DUI Sentencing Modifications is an excellent bill run by our defense colleague, Sen. Pitcher. This bill expressly allows veterans treatment court programs to count as one of the problem solving courts someone with a DUI conviction can participate in to shorten or suspend their license suspension or revocation.

SB 90 Mandatory Jail Sentence Amendments is another crimmigration bill that started out much worse and more far-reaching. The original bill created an enhancement of one degree for a crime committed by an individual in the U.S. unlawfully, with additional fines and indeterminate prison terms. We worked with the sponsors to narrow the enhancement to cases in which someone is deported and re-enters the country illegally and then commits a new crime. This bill does include a mandatory jail sentence for drug- and theft-related crimes committed on re-entry, prohibiting the offender from being turned over to the federal government for deportation until the person has served the entire mandatory jail sentence. When asked why the state would codify policy to house non-citizens on taxpayer dollars, the sponsors explained that they wanted to target people likely involved with the cartel who would have the resources to re-enter the US with ease to commit more drug offenses. Because we were able to get the bill much more narrow, we did not publicly oppose it.

SB 98 Parental Education on Use of Technology Amendments requires a video presentation for parents regarding legal issues a student may encounter using technology to create or share sexual images.

We supported SB 110 Summons Modifications from Sen. Pitcher, which creates a presumption for a summons over a warrant if the accused was released from jail because the prosecuting attorney did not file an information within the required time period. 

SB 115 Substance Use Disorder Revisions requires state correctional facilities and county jails to assess inmates for substance use disorders and use the assessments to assist with treatment and programming decisions. Some jails already do this, but not all, so this will be an important data bill for legislators to see the scope of the issue, especially with the long-anticipated 90-day medicaid waiver being implemented soon to keep treatment continuous through the criminal justice process.

SB 119 Domestic Relations Recodification recodifies family law statute and creates a class A misdemeanor for disclosing information obtained from the voluntary adoption registry in violation of code. 

 SB 123 Criminal Protective Order Amendments requires the court to include a provision in protective orders prohibiting the alleged perpetrator from terminating a utility service for 60 days. Some legislators were concerned that this bill would force the accused to pay for services they were legally not allowed to use, and in response to this, Sen. Pitcher added a provision clarifying that this bill is not a determination that the alleged perpetrator is responsible for the costs of a utility service to a victim's residence.

SB 133 Metal Purchase and Theft Amendments modifies the crime of metal or catalytic converter theft for actors who obtain or exercise unauthorized control over another person's metal, with a tiered penalty schematic. Last year’s catalytic converter bill put the onus on pawn shops to report suspicious catalytic converter sales, which was unclear for them, so the sponsor ran this to ease some of that burden. 

SB 134 Health-Care Decisions Act Amendments provides that health-care professionals or health-care institutions acting in good faith are not subject to criminal liability for reasonable compliance or non-compliance with directives.

SB 140 Law Enforcement DNA Amendments was a high priority early on in the session but was mitigated significantly. The original bill sought to require sheriffs to collect DNA from anyone who committed a misdemeanor against an individual and allow that DNA to be processed 60 days after an arrest warrant if an outstanding warrant was issued after the individual was booked. This represented a huge expansion of government intrusion and DNA collection, and we partnered with our libertarian and liberal allies to oppose this bill. In response, the sponsor removed the collection requirement for misdemeanors, but the bill still allows the government to process the DNA that is collected, if, after the person is arrested on a felony, charges are filed and the court issues a warrant that is not served for 60 days. The final version also requires a prosecutor to notify someone of their right to have their DNA sample destroyed.

SB 146 Glucagon Amendments provides criminal immunity for qualified individuals acting in good faith to respond to a diabetic emergency.

SB 147 Youth Service Organizations Amendments changes the language from “shall” to “may” regarding getting a government ID from youth service applicants, since some applicants don’t have one.

SB 149 Natural Resources Modifications creates a class B misdemeanor of operating as a hunting guide without being registered or with putting clients in danger, as well as a class B misdemeanor for knowingly retaining a guide who is not registered (although clarifies that this latter offense is not subject to imprisonment or probation). These provisions were originally run in HB 153 Hunting Amendments, but when it looked like that wouldn’t pass in time, the provisions were placed in SB 149 on the last day of the session.

SB 157 Nonjudicial Adjustment Amendments prohibits a minor from declining to enter into a nonjudicial adjustment agreement unless the minor has received advice from legal counsel. It also modifies duties of the IDC to include provisions that encourage nonjudicial adjustments, including providing legal advice at no cost and staffing an attorney to provide this advice.

SB 164 Modifications to Election Law expands a third degree felony for poll watchers to include divulging information related to the number or names of verified signatures.

SB 170 School Discipline Amendments prohibits corporal punishment and seclusion in schools, applies the Child Abuse and Neglect reporting and investigating requirements to complaints of corporal punishment, and gives criminal immunity to a school or person who makes a good faith report. It also qualifies any violations of this chapter as unlawful detention (which is a class B misdemeanor).

Alongside IDC, we fought to get SB 171 Indigent Defense Amendments passed during the last week of the session. This bill provides much needed funding to IDC, creating the Youth Defense Fund to pay for indigent defense services for a minor referred to the juvenile court for an offense.

SB 172 Local Health Department Amendments allows the Department of Environmental Quality to reimburse the department, a local government, or a local health department from money collected from a criminal fine for a qualifying extraordinary expense incurred in a prosecution. The original bill expanded a related class B misdemeanor offense, but this was removed.  

SB 177 Child Welfare Amendments made a number of changes in the child welfare code. The final bill does the following:

• Adds torture to the juvenile code and amends the definition of sexual abuse to include the act or attempted act of unlawful sexual activity and to remove the provision on repeated incidents. 

• Allows an adjudicative proceeding to be stayed during an active criminal investigation.

• Requires an alleged perpetrator to file a request to review a substantiated finding within 30 days and prohibits them from filing a petition to review if they have been convicted or plead guilty or no contest. 

• In a shelter hearing, requires a court to consider relevant evidence regarding harm the child has suffered or will suffer due to the separation or continued separation from the child's parent or guardian. 

• Extends the presumption that reunification services should not be provided to situations involving severe abuse and neglect, human trafficking of a child, or torture. 

• When considering reunification, requires a court to consider if the parent's rights were voluntarily terminated. 

• Provides that substantiation findings will be available only to those with statutory authority to access the Licensing Information System.

We supported SB 180 Law Enforcement Usage of Artificial Intelligence, which requires a law enforcement agency to have a policy concerning the use of generative AI and requires a record created wholly or partially by AI to have a disclaimer and has been reviewed by the author for accuracy. 

SB 185 Compensatory Service in Lieu of Fine Amendments, again from Sen. Pitcher, allows courts to consider compensatory service instead of fines for defendants with any criminal conviction, including traffic offenses, and raises the credit amount from $10 to $12 an hour.

SB 188 School District Modifications originally included a new class B misdemeanor offense for interference with a director of a school district using force, violence, intimidation, or other unlawful acts, but this was removed. Now, the bill only addresses the creation of new school districts and the transition process from divided to new school districts.

SB 191 Protective Orders Amendments represents an idea we’ve spoken with previously to the sponsor, although we had little involvement in the bill this year. It creates a no-fault cohabitant abuse protective order which can be issued without a finding by the court that the respondent has committed, or will commit, domestic violence or abuse. The no-fault order may only be issued when the petitioner and respondent both agree to the terms of the order and can’t be used as evidence in a civil or criminal proceeding that the respondent committed domestic violence or abuse. The bill also provides that a no-fault cohabitant abuse protective order does not prevent a petitioner from obtaining a protective order in the future.

SB 194 Defendant Access to Evidence Amendments is another very good bill from Sen. Pitcher. It requires that inmates awaiting trial, sentencing, or disposition of criminal charges have access and space to review discovery with counsel, whether via the jail's technology or technology provided by counsel. Sen. Pitcher ensured that the bill had little to no opposition and it passed both houses unanimously.

SB 195 Transportation Amendments creates an infraction for operating electric unicycles above 28 mph or in prohibited areas.

SB 204 Right to Appeal Amendments addresses injunctions and the enjoinder of laws challenged on constitutionality. Specifically, the bill provides that in situations in which the court enters into an injunction delaying enforcement of the law and the government appeals, that injunction is no longer in effect. SJR 9 Joint Resolution Amending Rules of Civil Procedure on Injunctions from the same sponsor amends requirements to file for an injunction of state law to require the filing within 45 days before a state law takes effect.

SB 215 Emergency Medical Services Modifications makes it a class B misdemeanor to willfully disobey a valid subpoena or cease and desist letter issued by the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services Management.  

SB 223 Public Education Bullying Amendments amends the definition of "bullying" and defines the terms "staff bullying" and "student bullying."

SB 249 Student Integration Amendments prohibits a school district from integrating a student into a school if the student has committed, or allegedly committed, a forcible felony (a felony involving the use of force or violence against an individual that poses a substantial danger of death or serious bodily injury).

SB 278 State Debt Collection Amendments exempts proceedings to enforce or collect a criminal account receivable, civil judgment of restitution, or civil account receivable from certain time limitations in the Utah Uniform Probate Code.

SB 286 Criminal Plea Withdrawal Amendments and SJR 10 Joint Resolution Amending Court Rules Regarding Pleas were high priority support bills from Sen. Pitcher. These pieces of legislation were brought forward in response to the State v. Rippey decision on plea withdrawal. They moved the plea withdrawal procedure to Rule 11 in the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure, which gave defendants a right to counsel in this process.

SB 290 Candidate Licensing Amendments requires potential candidates for district attorney, county attorney, or attorney general to submit information affirming that they meet the constitutional requirements for that office.

Senator Weiler’s SB 318 Prosecutorial Misconduct Amendments created an independent commission called the Prosecutorial Misconduct Commission that can investigate and hold hearings on complaints, the results of which shall be available in a public report. It defines "prosecutorial misconduct" as purposefully or intentionally violating, or recklessly disregarding, a clear and unambiguous legal obligation or professional standard for a prosecuting attorney, if the violation did or could have impacted the substantive or procedural due rights of an individual accused of a crime. Members of the committee will include three prosecutors, two judges, and a retired attorney whose primary caseload was criminal defense. This committee was modeled after the judicial misconduct committee and prosecutors were strongly opposed to its creation. 

SB 326 Judgment Renewal Modifications provides that a statute of limitations runs from the date of renewal of a judgment, not only from the original date of a judgment, and provides that a judgment may be renewed multiple times.

SB 336 Utah Fairpark Area Investment and Restoration District Modifications creates a class B misdemeanor for a board member of the State Fair Park Authority to fail to submit or amend a written disclosure statement within seven days of being notified.

SB 340 Protected Person Amendments allows a person who has received a credible threat, been physically harmed, or is at risk of serious bodily injury or death to apply to the commissioner of public safety for certification to construct a security improvement on the individual's property. It also provides for the confidentiality of records relating to certification of a security improvement or security improvement construction.

SCR 1 Concurrent Resolution Authorizing Adult Sentencing and Supervision Length Guidelines and Juvenile Disposition Guidelines passed. This resolution will likely come each year, as the new process for the guideline is to have the Legislature approve the Sentencing Commission’s recommendations. It is significant to defense attorneys because previously, the Sentencing Commission was tasked with creating the guidelines and could do so based on the best available research and evidence. Now, because the Legislature feels like the guidelines are too lenient overall, the guidelines must be ratified by the Legislature each year, essentially to decide if they are “tough enough.” Fortunately, this year the guidelines were ratified without any controversy or pushback, but that could easily change in future years.

SJR 3 Joint Resolution Dissolving Salt Lake County Justice Court passed. As summed up in the title, this bill dissolves the Salt Lake County justice court no later than June 30, 2027 and moves their caseload to the Third District Court (unless the County makes different arrangements before then). This change was requested by Salt Lake County.

SJR 5 Joint Resolution Regarding State Prisoner Placement in Juab County Correctional Facility supports jail expansion as beneficial to both the state and the counties and approves contracting for additional beds dedicated to housing state inmates in Juab County.