2025 DUI, Drug & Alcohol Bills.

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

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.

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 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 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 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.

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 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 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.