H.B. 20 Correctional Facility Capacity Amendments

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What the bill does

This bill addresses provisions related to correctional facility capacity.

Hearings and debates

• Jan 23, 2026 House Judiciary Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (12 turns)

  1. Committee vice chair (presiding)40:38

     HB 20 correctional facility capacities amendments from Representative Libe. The time is yours.

  2. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee40:44

     Thank you. Okay, so I do have a substitute. So I'm presenting on the first substitute for the bill, and it's just cleaning up. There was some issues with the fiscal analyst office. If you recall, we voted on this previously in interim committee, but, um, as it was, as the fiscal analyst office started to look at administration, uh, realized that we needed a few tweaks. And then an additional thing this does is it allows the money in this account to be used for community corrections Senator centers. Um, and as we have expanded those, we found that they're a highly effective tool in the hands of corrections for offenders. So, uh, that's all that the sub does. And with that, I'm open to questions Go back to the committee for clarifying questions and discussion.

  3. Committee vice chair (presiding)41:39

     Alright. We do need a motion to adopt the first substitute Representative Er, To adopt the first substitute. That motion's in order. Would you like to speak to it? Um,

  4. Unknown speaker41:51speaker not certain

     Nope. I'll leave. Thank you.

  5. Committee vice chair (presiding)41:54

     Alright, so motion is to adopt first substitute house bill 20 correctional facility capacity amendments. All in favor of that motion, say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? That passed unanimously. And we're now, the bill in front of us is first substitute house bill 20. Representative Ox here.

  6. Rep. Tiara Auxier42:28

     Thank you. Sorry, I thought my mic was already on. Sorry. Are are we ready to make motions on the whole? No. Okay. Um, I move that we favorably passed out first sub HB 20, um, to the house floor.

  7. Committee vice chair (presiding)42:41

     Excellent. Thank you. Representative. Would you like to speak to that motion?

  8. Unknown speaker42:43speaker not certain

     This seems like something that we've been working on for a while. And, um, a, a main focus of Representative Liz and be, and I know the good work she's done, so happy to move it along.

  9. Committee vice chair (presiding)42:54

     Excellent. Thank you representative discussion to that motion. Seeing none. Back to Representative Libe.

  10. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee43:00

      Thank you. I really appreciate the motion. It has been. Um, this is an exciting piece to the puzzle, uh, in the criminal justice space, and we've worked on it as a committee and appreciate the committee support.

  11. Committee vice chair (presiding)43:13

      Excellent. Thank you, representative Libe. We'll go ahead and we'll do a voice vote. The motion is to favorably recommend the first substitute of House Bill 20 outta this committee and onto the house floor. All in favor, please say Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? I rule that passes unanimously. We'll go back to Chair. Libe, Do you wanna Finish?

  12. Chair Lisonbee (presiding)43:36

      All right. I saw Representative Teuscher. Gotcha. Oh, there he is. All right. Looks like he has a guest. So we are going to go to our final item on the Agenda and committee. Good work. Today, we've made really good time.

• Feb 3, 2026 House floor debate (day 15)▶ Watch
  Transcript (11 turns)

  1. Speaker (presiding)28:41

     First substitute House bill 20. Correctional facility capacity amendments by Representative Libe. This bill was heard in judiciary with a vote of 11 0 0. Representative Libe.

  2. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee28:53

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. Utah's population has grown faster than anticipated in expanding, uh, expanding over time. The capacity of our prisons and jails was always part of the plan. This bill proposes a way to fund that expansion. So multiple forecasts have shown that bed capacity is reaching emergency limits and will do so by 2028. The, the longest time is potentially 2029. Even with the changes that we are making this session to fund needed expansion, the Utah way is to plan ahead. And so for that reason, the judiciary interim Committee spent a lot of time looking at this issue. Uh, HB 20 creates a restricted account to address correctional facility capacity. And the money from the account can only be appropriated by the legislature to build or expand future capacity. The account will be funded by the following mechanisms. The so direct appropriations from the legislature, one-time savings that occur from delayed estimated fiscal impacts from new legislation or increases in the population level of state correctional facilities directly. And then, um, the portion of appropriations from new legislation that the Department of Corrections indicates is for state correctional capital facility costs. And so those are the ways that the fund gets funded and then it can only be spent on expansion. And with that Mr. Speaker, I'm open to questions.

  3. Speaker (presiding)30:40

     Thank you Representative Libe discussion to the bill Representative Hansen.

  4. Rep. Lisa Hansen30:49

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. I, um, would the sponsor yield to a question?

  5. Speaker (presiding)30:53speaker not certain

     I will. If Libe will yield Yes. Representative Hansen.

  6. Rep. Lisa Hansen30:57

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. Um, do we not have funds elsewhere from accounts that are no longer viable or needed that we could use instead of, um, this Thank you Mr. Speaker.

  7. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee31:08

     It's a great question and I'm sure that there are funds that as the legislature, reprioritizes will be available and it would be up to the legislature then to put those in this account if that's what they deem would be the most appropriate use of those funds. What this bill does is it just creates a, it, it's a unique funding mechanism, but it creates an account and then it says we're going to make sure that as, uh, as we have fiscal notes on bills that are directly associated with correctional capacity, that that money gets set aside in this account for future use to make sure we can fund that expansion.

  8. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee31:46

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you, uh, Representative Hansen.

  9. Speaker (presiding)31:52

     Further discussion to the bill seen. I'm back here. Representative Vy for summation. I'll

  10. Unknown speaker31:56speaker not certain

      Waive. Thank you

  11. Speaker (presiding)31:57

      Mrs. Ben Wade voting will now be open on first substitute HB 20 and all present having voted voting is now closed. First sub HB 20 passed this body of 69. Yes votes zero, no votes will be sent to the Senate for its consideration. Representative Shipp.

• Feb 9, 2026 Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (13 turns)

  1. Committee chair2:49:57

     Chair. All right. Representative Lisonbee, is this a quick bill? Okay. Representative Libe, we're gonna go to House Bill 21st sub, uh, representative Libe.

  2. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee2:50:09

     Thank you Mr. Chair. This is the interim committee bill that we discussed that just creates that specific Setaside account for future expenditures with regards to expansion of corrections of prison capacity in the state of Utah.

  3. Committee chair2:50:23

     Okay. Was there any opposition in the house or you skipped a bill?

  4. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee2:50:27

     It's okay, I can look it up. Okay. Um, okay. Does that conclude your presentation? I don't think There was. Yes it does. Okay.

  5. Committee chair2:50:33

     Um, I don't see any questions from the committee. Uh, no opposition in the house is what staff's telling me. Anyone here to testify against this bill? Anyone online? Raise your hand online if you're against the bill. Alright, we'll take one short comment against the bill from Mr. Stewart.

  6. Seth Stewart2:50:57

     Yeah, that Stewart from American Fork, just representing myself. Um, I I have noticed there is a, there's a big trend towards creating separate accounts for various, uh, agencies and, and parts of government operations and so on. Um, I'm just wondering how do you reconcile this with the, the appropriations clause for, for the legislature? Because I, I, I, I don't see any, any, uh, authorization for separate standing accounts to be maintained in perpetuity. Um, and especially not for, for, uh, growth of those funds and so on. But, uh, both at the state and federal level, I've just seen a lot of things like this cropping up lately.

  7. Committee chair2:51:34

     Yeah. Thank you. So I'll, if the sponsor wants to address your question in her summation, she's allowed to, um, it's her discretion, but we don't, we don't allow question answer from the public comment. But I'm gonna go ahead and, uh, close the public comment and go back to the Committee for Action.

  8. Sen. Brammer2:51:51

     Senator Brammer? Yeah. Uh, recommend favorably HB 20 and I think, is it Sub first Substitute? Alright. Uh, thank you.

  9. Committee chair2:52:01

     Um, no discussion of that Motion Representative Lisonbee, would you like to sum?

  10. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee2:52:06

      I'll be really brief. We know that we have future impacts that we need to fund for. This just creates a pathway to do that. It's really simple.

  11. Committee chair2:52:13

      Alright. Thank you. Senator Brammer, would you like

  12. Sen. Brammer2:52:16

      to sum I waive.

  13. Committee chair2:52:18

      Alright, all in favor of the motion To favorably recommend first substitute HB 20 to the floor of the Senate. Say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Chair rules of that passage? Unanimously Thank you. Committee five to zero, we'll take one final motion out there.

• Feb 18, 2026 Senate floor debate (day 29)▶ Watch
  Transcript (7 turns)

  1. Sen. Todd Weiler1:36:09

     their facility. That's, that hasn't, you know, doesn't have prisoners yet. So that's, that's my presentation.

  2. Senate President (presiding)1:36:17

     Alright. Uh, the senator is, uh, done with his presentation very quickly. Any discussion to the bill? Seeing none. Senator Weiler

  3. Sen. Todd Weiler1:36:27

     Thank you. I'd move that house Bill first house bill 20. Be read for a third time. The motion is shall first substitute house bill 20 Be read a third time. Roll call vote.

  4. Unknown speaker1:36:36speaker not certain

     Senator Spery Aye. Lewin b Brammer? Yes. Bus Comore Aye. As Camilla Gilmore Aye. Grover Harper Kins Ipson Johnson Quan McKay Mikel Milner Musman Owens Cher Plum Rebe Sandal Stevenson Stratton Bickers er aye. Wilson Aye. Winterton President Adams

  5. Senate President (presiding)1:37:30

     First substitute house Bill 20. Having received 19 yay votes, three na votes, seven being absent shall be read a third time.

  6. Senate President (presiding)1:37:37

     Senator Balderree, Point of personal privilege, Priest granted.

  7. Sen. Heidi Balderree1:37:42

     Today I'd like to introduce you to my guest, John Demark, who is a former marine officer and current wealth manager. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome to the Senate

• Feb 19, 2026 Senate floor debate (day 30)▶ Watch
  Transcript (7 turns)

  1. Sen. Todd Weiler50:59

     Utah's prison population has grown faster than anticipated. Expanding over time was always part of the plan, but this bill proposes a moderate expansion. Multiple forecasts show that the bed capacity is reaching will reach emergency limits by 2028 with the expansion, um, that we are funding this session. The Utah ways to plan ahead And, uh, over the interim, the judiciary committee studied potential solutions House Bill. Um, this house bill creates a restricted account to address correctional facility capacity. The money from the account may only be appropriated by the legislature to build or expand future state correctional facilities. And with that, I will yield any questions.

  2. President Adams (presiding)51:44

     Thank you for the presentation. Uh, say no discussion to your bill. Senator, I'm gonna go to you for a motion.

  3. Unknown speaker51:52speaker not certain

     Thank you. I move that first substitute house Bill 20 pass.

  4. President Adams (presiding)51:57

     Thank you. And the question is, shall first substitute House Bill 20 pass Roll call vote.

  5. Unknown speaker52:02speaker not certain

     Senator Vickers Baldy Lewin Brammer Bus Cullimore Aye. Escamilla Fillmore Baldy Aye. Grover Aye. Harper Kins Aye. Ipson Aye. Aye. Johnson Juab McKay Mikel Aye. Milner Milner Aye. Musselman Owens pitcher Plum Rebe Sandal Stevenson Stratton Vickers Aye. Weiler Aye. Wilson Aye. Winterton Aye.

  6. President Adams (presiding)53:07

     President Adams Aye.

  7. President Adams (presiding)53:12

     First substitute House Bill 20, having received 23 yay votes, three nay votes, three being absent passes this body and will be signed by the President and returned to the house for the signature of the Speaker

All votes

• 11-0-0House Judiciary Committee · House Comm - Substitute Recommendation · Jan 23, 2026Roll call
• 11-0-0House Judiciary Committee · House Comm - Favorable Recommendation · Jan 23, 2026Roll call
• 69-0-6House floor · House/ passed 3rd reading · Feb 3, 2026Roll call
• 5-0-4Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation · Feb 9, 2026Roll call
• 19-3-7Senate floor · Senate/ passed 2nd reading · Feb 18, 2026Roll call
• 23-3-3Senate floor · Senate/ passed 3rd reading · Feb 19, 2026

Tallies are yeas–nays–absent.