2025 Welfare Bills.

PASSED BILLS

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.

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 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 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).

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.

FAILED BILLS

HB 83 Child Welfare Modifications would have authorized a juvenile court to issue an investigative warrant related to the health, safety, or welfare of a child.

HB 461 Animal Crime Victim Amendments sought to find a solution to getting pets to new owners when their owner was detained or when the pet was part of an ongoing criminal case. The original bill created a new class C misdemeanor for "encouraging animal abuse,” defined as adopting a pet only to return them to the owner they were relinquished from, but we got that provision removed. The bill faced a lot of technical issues and questions of what it means for the presumption of innocence, and it ultimately didn’t move forward.

HB 539 Criminal Justice Modifications came out late in the session and represents a slew of domestic violence changes requested by SWAP. Specifically, the bill did the following:

  • Directs the sentencing commission to revise domestic violence sentencing and supervision length guidelines and create a matrix that considers a prior DV conviction as an aggravating factor and takes into account an offender's risk of reoffending based on a DV risk assessment.

  • Provides that the definition of "cohabitant" includes the minor child of a parent or stepparent if the parent commits an offense, but does not include the parent or siblings if the child committed the offense

  • Adds strangulation to the list of qualifying offenses of DV in the presence of a child (this provision was also in HB 312, which did pass). 

  • Removes bail for people charged with a DV offense while on parole, probation, or pretrial release for a DV offense. 

  • Adds several offenses to those qualifying for DV, including: aggravated child abuse, abuse of a vulnerable adult, aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult, personal dignity exploitation of a vulnerable adult, financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult, commission of domestic violence in the presence of a child, human trafficking for labor, human trafficking for sexual exploitation, human trafficking of a child, aggravated human trafficking, human trafficking of a vulnerable adult, aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, and Offenses Against Privacy under Title 76, Chapter 9, Part 4. 

  • Removes, as a DV offense, damage to or interruption of a communication device under Section 76-6-108. 

  • Removes some limiting language around DV-eligible disorderly conduct offenses and the federal Firearms Act. 

  • Provides that automatic arrest or citation laws with DV offenses do not apply to a child abuse offense, which must be investigated according to child welfare laws. 

  • Removes DV data-tracking and reporting statutes. 

  • Prohibits a parent from waiving any condition of a jail release agreement on behalf of an alleged victim who is a child if the parent is the one arrested or cited for the qualifying offense. 

  • Requires, in custody statute, a parent to immediately notify the other parent if they reside with someone convicted of child abuse, aggravated child abuse, child abandonment, DV in front of a child, child abuse homicide, sexual offenses against a minor, kidnapping/trafficking/smuggling of a minor, or sexual exploitation of a minor, and provides that these constitute a material change in circumstances. 

  • Adds child abuse, aggravated child abuse, child abandonment, and DV in front of a child to the list of offenses that disqualify someone who is not parent of the child for custody of that child.

This bill did not come out of Rules and was only briefly discussed in a Sentencing Commission meeting. We expect these issues to come up during the interim and some or all of the provisions will likely be included in a bill next year.

SB 81 Care Provider Abuse Modifications would have made it a class A misdemeanor for a care provider to have sexual relations with a vulnerable adult in their care. We worked to add an exception when the actor is married to, cohabiting with, or has a pre-existing consensual sexual relationship with the vulnerable adult before they were placed under the actor's care. There was some consternation in the Senate that this should be a felony and some concern in the House that this shouldn’t be criminal at all. The sponsor really just wanted a way to track people who engage in this behavior and then move on to a different job to do the same thing, so there might be a possibility of this bill coming back in a non-criminal place next year.

SB 208 Parent-time and Custody Amendments sought to clarify that a parent registering as a child abuse offender counts as a material change in circumstances for custody orders.

SB 240 Congregate Care Modifications would have required DHHS to determine an applicant's certification for direct patient access within seven days of receiving a completed background check, which includes results from another state's child abuse and neglect registry.

SB 281 Corporal Punishment in Schools Amendments sought to create a class B misdemeanor of unlawful use of implements in physical discipline of a minor.