2025 Data, DNA & Records Bills.

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 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 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.

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.

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 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.

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 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 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.

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 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 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 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 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 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.