Legislation

HB110 would place additional barriers for inmates seeking parole, requiring increased notification to parties who would oppose parole. This bill will cause even longer sentences, costing the Utah Department of Corrections over $10 million to house individuals who are eligible to be released.

HB122 provides safety guardrails for pregnant and postpartum inmates, ensuring that correctional staff refrain from unjustified use of restraints on inmates recovering from giving birth. This bill clarifies that postpartum healing goes beyond the time in the hospital after giving birth.

HB253 proposes a common-sense reform on our criminal legal system and would take jail time off the table the first time someone is caught possessing a small amount of marijuana. This bill makes a first offense an infraction and would mitigate racial disparities that come with criminalizing marijuana possession.

HB254 would expand access to justice for indigent defendants, allowing those who can't pay fees to qualify for a plea in abeyance. Pleas in abeyance are important mechanisms in our criminal legal system that allow defendants to have their case dismissed if they meet certain conditions. Access to a life without a record should not be based on someone's ability to pay. This bill also limits prosecutor's discretion and requires that a plea in abeyance be offered to young people who are charged with certain petty crimes and have no other criminal history, like minors who unlawfully possess alcohol.

HB48 removes protections for youth who interact with our criminal legal system and would allow minors to be placed in adult correctional facilities. This would change the current system that requires minors to be housed in a separate facility, respecting the known safety concerns that come with housing children in adult facilities.

HB295 helps protect individuals who want to report an overdose event, either for themselves or someone else, but may be afraid to face criminal penalties for substance abuse if they do so. This bill empowers prosecutors and courts to dismiss charges against individuals who help overdose victims if it's the individual's first time being charged with the offense and they plan to seek substance abuse treatment. This bill is a common-sense measure that could save lives.

HB331 makes blocking traffic or sidewalks with two or more people a third degree felony, which is punishable by up to five years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine. This bill also provides criminal enhancements for wearing masks during the commission of a crime, and creates a civil cause of action to sue people who block roadways or sidewalks. These penalties erode the public's ability to exercise their First Amendment right to protest and chill constitutionally protected speech. HB331 would make felons out of protestors.

HB392 proposes a new way for cases challenging the constitutionality of state laws to be heard in Utah state courts. The bill gives the Legislature, Governor, or Attorney General the ability to reassign a case in which a state actor is named as a party to a three-judge panel, rather than to the district court normally assigned. Only the state actor, not the opposing party, has the power to reassign a case. That reassignment cannot be challenged and is not subject to judicial review—likely violating constitutional protections under due process and equal rights.

This bill builds on HB300, which made significant changes to election adminsitration to roll back vote-by-mail and was passed during the 2025 legislative session. HB311 would allow poll workers to do signature verification even if the voter supplied the last 4 digits of their valid ID or SSN if the poll worker has any reason to believe that the signature on the ballot return envelope is not the voter's signature. The bill also further limits the forms of ID that Utahns can use to register to vote, eliminating utility bills and bank statements as an option to prove residency.