S.B. 128 Public Alert Amendments

What this bill does

The bill would create a purple alert system to notify the public and coordinate public safety, health, and community groups when a vulnerable person, such as someone with a disability, is missing. Alerts would be regional or local rather than statewide, and the bill is designed to limit alerts to these specific cases.

Plain-English summary written by AI from the sponsor’s presentation in committee and on the floor. Check the official text below.

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Every vote

• 4 yes, 0 no, 2 absentSenate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee: vote to change the bill · Jan 28, 2026Who voted how
• 3 yes, 0 no, 3 absentSenate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee: vote to approve it · Jan 28, 2026Who voted how
• 21 yes, 0 no, 8 absentFirst of two Senate votes · Feb 13, 2026Who voted how
• 24 yes, 0 no, 5 absentFinal Senate vote · Feb 17, 2026Who voted how
• 6 yes, 0 no, 5 absentHouse Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee: vote to approve it · Mar 2, 2026Who voted how
• 71 yes, 0 no, 4 absentFinal House vote · Mar 4, 2026Who voted how

Hearings and debates

• Jan 28, 2026 Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (17 turns)

  1. Committee chair44:48

     So, Senator Plumb, um, now let's move on to the next bill.

  2. Sen. Jen Plumb44:52

     Yes, please. And I think you have a substitute for that bill as well, Correct? I do. And apologies for sticking my earbud in. I got a ping from the committee that if I knew was needed to vote, so that's why I put that in. So hope it doesn't feel like I'm less, uh, invested. I just, just in case, uh, Senate, we Understand quorum problems, Right? It's a thing the Senator Vickers especially, oh, hang on. Here we go. I gotta vote. So sorry. Thank you all.

  3. Sen. Karen Kwan45:18

     Madam Chair. Would you like to me to make a motion now in the substitute? Yes, please. So I move that we delete title and body of SB 1 28 and replace it with, uh, first sub SB 1 28.

  4. Committee chair45:31

     Okay. We have a motion to delete and title and body Senate bill 1 28 and replace it with first substitute Senate bill 1 28. Uh, any discussion to that motion? All in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Okay. Now we are addressing the first substitute of Senate Bill 1 28. Senator Plumb.

  5. Sen. Jen Plumb45:53

     Yes. Thank you. Um, and thank you for the motion multitasking. Uh, this substitution, uh, that went in Uintah incorporate some language suggested by DPS. Um, after we had conversations with multiple stakeholders, there were some language changes that made it more workable for them. So those were the changes that were added. And this bill, um, essentially creates what we would call a purple alert notification system. And I think many of us are maybe familiar with an Amber alert or a silver alert about ways that we would have not only communication to our communities, but set up coordination between our public safety entities, our public health entities, our community engaged groups to say, Hey, we've got someone in our community that has a particular need for us to have our eyes out and our care out for them. Um, it was brought to me by some constituents after concerns recently about a case that some may have heard of when an individual who has the kind of unique existence of, of existing with autism had gone missing from the family. And the opportunity to rally the folks really came together tremendously in the way that that family communicated and the way that that family got community around them to communicate. That was a awfully heavy burden. And it became clear how much better we could do it if we had a way. Now I work in an emergency department, there's alarms going off all over the place, and alarm fatigue is real. So I wanted to be thoughtful that this wasn't saying an alarm for every possible thing. I wanted us to really be thoughtful about the uniqueness of a population that would truly benefit from us being coordinated about it. We looked at other states, other states have purple alert, uh, notification systems. We tried to kind of like, we like to do, make a, a Utah unique program out of it. And that's the bill that came out of this. Uh, we've been able to get DPS on board. I have some folks here to speak from within the public safety space about ways that they think it would help them, as well as people in the disability community and family members who would be most, I think, impacted by this. So with that being said, um, I think I, if I were to paint a picture, it, it's not quite like an Amber alert where there's a whole statewide alert. It's a little bit more like a silver alert where there's a more regional, local alert that would go out because we want those local eyes to be more, um, aware and informed. And that's the bill, essentially.

  6. Committee chair48:32

     Okay. Thank you very much. Uh, any questions, comments from the committee? Uh, Senator Quo.

  7. Sen. Karen Kwan48:41

     Thank you, Madam Chair. It's more of a comment. Um, and just a a thank you for, uh, bringing this forward. I have a, a nephew with autism and, um, I mean, I know we're always, um, making sure that somebody is, is with him and, and, um, we know where he is. And, but as he has aged and, and has wanted to kind of, uh, you know, go off on his own sometimes, I mean, he's, he's in his twenties, so, you know, it, it does become an, an issue to think about. Um, you know, what if he decides he wants to go somewhere without us and that, and then we can't find him. So, uh, I think that, uh, this is a really great idea. And I actually thought that we already had this, so thank you for, for doing this. Yeah.

  8. Committee chair49:25

     Thank you. Okay. Uh, anyone else on the committee? Seeing none. Uh, is there anyone from the public that would like to speak to this Bill, please raise your hands. Just one, two. Okay. We have two people and anyone online? Okay. We have two people that wanna speak to this bill. So, uh, please introduce yourself and make sure you sign in and, uh, share your thoughts. Yeah.

  9. Brandon Christiansen, Deputy Chief, Salt Lake City Police Department49:55

     I'm Brandon Christen, deputy Chief of the Salt Lake City Police Department. Uh, we've been working with the sponsor. We, we fully support this. We feel that it gives law enforcement in general and the community an extra tool to help find this, help a vulnerable population. That's kind of a missing gap at this point. So we're, we're in full support of it.

  10. Committee chair50:15

      Okay. Thank you very much. That's, that's helpful. And I think I had one more person that wanted to speak to this. Okay.

  11. Elizabeth Larson, resident50:25

      My bags are A little overwhelming. It's like I have a whole yard sale for you to join and sit. Apologies for that. No,

  12. Committee chair50:35

      Please introduce yourself and then share your thoughts with the committee and then make sure you sign in.

  13. Elizabeth Larson, resident50:40

      Um, my name's Elizabeth Larson and I am a mom who joined the search party and met some wonderful, amazing people who came together and, um, learned some information about the Purple Alert system and how it would be beneficial. I just wrote a few notes of things I've learned about it, um, that the Purple Alert is meant to be a compliment to the Amber Alert and the Silver Alert. It's a great educational tool to, um, educate and, um, minutes matter when you're dealing with somebody who is, um, has some kind of cognitive disability, mental illness, brain injury, autism, et cetera. And, um, there's a lot of things like that that aren't visible on the outside. And so this bill would provide the tools for police and for those who have access to the bill, um, to be able to communicate the needs and allow them to know the best way to handle, um, and how to approach those individuals when they are looking for them. This law will fill in the gaps, um, and help be especially vulnerable. So, Thank you. I just, I really appreciate you guys listening to this and we're grateful for Senator Plumb.

  14. Committee chair52:12

      Thank you. We appreciate it. Make sure you sign in, please. Thanks for signing Up. Okay. No one else. Okay. So now I'm gonna return back to the Committee for discussion or action. Senator Juab.

  15. Sen. Karen Kwan52:27

      Thank you Madam Chair. I move that we favorably pass out, uh, SB 1 28 first sub to the full body of the Senate.

  16. Committee chair52:36

      Okay. We have a motion to pass out. First substitute Senate bill 1 28 Public Alert Amendments to the full Senate, uh, with the recommendation of the committee. Uh, is there any discussion to that motion? Seeing none. All in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you.

  17. Committee chair52:58speaker not certain

      Thank you very much, Senator Plumb for your work on these committees committee. I know these, these kinds of bills take a lot of time and a lot of consultation, so thank you. Appreciate it. Okay. Is Senator Fillmore here?

• Feb 13, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (6 turns)

  1. Sen. Jen Plumb1:25:47

     Thank you Mr. President Pro Tem. I I promise I will remain seated after this and I appreciate the body. Um, this bill is one that has a ton of support from all sorts of different elements. It was brought to me by some family members who were concerned after, you know, one of our more unique kind of individuals within the community had gone missing. And we have some alerts that address this sort of process. We have a silver alert, for example, if we have one of our senior citizen, uh, that is needing some assistance, we have an Amber alert that's a statewide alert if there's a, a child that is in danger. And we need to kind of pull our, our concept of communication about it. And this applies to some of our individuals who are vulnerable for reasons like autism or being non-verbal or not being able to communicate in a more, say, stereotypical way. Now I work in an emergency department. I'm very conscious, conscious of over alerting. If there's a constant alert going off, you don't even hear the alerts anymore. And so we wanted to make sure that we did this in such a way that we weren't saying, well, there's gonna be an alert for every single everything that comes up worked with Chief Red at Salt Lake City Fire or Police Department and some of the fire folks in conversations as well. And they identified that they actually really did think this would be beneficial so that we could get out an organized communication structure in the event that these happen. We've worked with DPS on this, we've, uh, gotten buy-in from the disability community from the LELC and I think that, uh, the right people all got together to put together a, a good piece of policy that may protect some of our folks who need us to help them the most. With that, I'm open to any questions.

  2. Presiding officer1:27:35

     Thank you for that presentation. Is there discussion to this bill? Seeing none. Senator Plumb back to

  3. Sen. Jen Plumb1:27:43

     You. Thank you Mr. President ProAm. I would call the question

  4. Presiding officer1:27:46

     And the question is, shall first substitute Senate Bill 1 28? Be read for a third time. Roll call vote.

  5. Senate clerk1:27:51

     Senator Spery Aye. Luin Aye. Brammer Bus Cullimore. Esca Fillmore Grover Harper Aye. Kins Aye. Ipson Johnson. Aye. K. Juab. Aye. McKay Mikel Milner Mussman Owens Pitcher Plum I Rebe Sandal Stevenson Stratton Bickers a Weiler Aye.

  6. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)1:28:37

     Wilson Aye. Winterton Aye. President Adams For substitute Senate Bill 1 28, having received 21 yay votes, zero nay votes, eight being absent will be read for a third time.

• Feb 17, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (9 turns)

  1. Sen. Jen Plumb1:08:13

     We worked hard with our DPS colleagues, with our concerned parents and, and community groups to have a system put in place for those not often but critical situations where someone who communicates differently and perhaps exists differently in the world needs a little extra attention and coordination in in looking out for them. Uh, with that I am open to any questions.

  2. Senate President (presiding)1:08:36

     Thank you for the presentation. Do we have discussion to the bill? Seeing then Senator Plumb back to you for summation or a motion?

  3. Sen. Jen Plumb1:08:46

     Uh, thank you Mr. President ProAm. I would call the question and

  4. Senate President (presiding)1:08:48

     The question is, shall first substitute Senate Bill one twenty eight pass Roll call vote.

  5. Senate clerk (roll call)1:08:52speaker not certain

     Senator Vickers Baldy Aye. Lewin Brammer bus Comore Aye. Escamilla Aye. Fillmore Grover Harper Aye. Hankins Aye. Ipson Aye. Johnson. Aye. K. Juab McKay Macl Mikel Milner Musman Owens Pitcher Plum Rebi Sandal Stevenson Stratton Vicar Weiler Wilson Aye. Winterton President Adams

  6. Senate President (presiding)1:09:33

     First substitute Senate Bill 1 28 Having received zero nay votes. 24 I votes, five being absent passes Senate be sent to the house for further consideration.

  7. Senate President (presiding)1:09:44speaker not certain

     Look at that. I made sure that our good secretary was listening.

  8. Senate President (presiding)1:09:49

     It passes will be sent to the House First substitute Senate bill 1 95 First substitute Senate Bill 1 95 Workforce Development. Senator Millner.

  9. Sen. Ann Millner1:09:59

     Thank you very much. Senator Millner. Mr. President pro tem, um, I need to delete and title

• Mar 2, 2026 House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (20 turns)

  1. Committee chair1:30:31

     All right. Senator Plumb, did you get your car working? Okay.

  2. Sen. Jen Plumb1:30:41

     Um, I heard, uh, it was fighting you this morning or something. It Just decided to quit on seventh East and fourth South because really there's probably not a better intersection except maybe before South and State Street. So the good news is tow truck has been dispatched. My intern rescued me. All is Well. You know, sometimes I feel like just quitting too. So, you Know what? I, I Actually give your car break. Thought it might have been a message from the universe, but then I was like, no, we both can't quit today. Not both of us.

  3. Committee chair1:31:10

     Welcome to law enforcement. And the time is yours.

  4. Sen. Jen Plumb1:31:13

     Thank you so much. Um, members of the committee, uh, Senate Bill 1 28 is a bill, um, that was actually brought to me by a group of advocates, uh, parents moms who wanted to have, uh, a conversation about some of our vulnerable folks and what happens to them when they are missing or when there's an inability to contact them. Earlier, you might remember a few months back, there was, uh, a gentleman who wasn't very verbal and didn't have typical communication strategies who was on the run. And we didn't have a great system to coordinate our public safety along with our engaged community members. And so we started these conversations after that, worked with Chief Red, worked with DPS, um, worked with these advocates as well. And out came this purple alert Bill. Some other states have adopted them. And, and I think it's crucial. Uh, I work in an ER where there's bells and whistles and things going off all the time. It's crucial that we be mindful not to over alert about things because that's real over alerting. Can, you know, if you have an alert every 30 seconds, you stop hearing them. But this piece felt critical enough that much like our Amber alerts or Silver alerts, we thought, you know what, this, this would be valuable to have. So it is a bit more like a silver alert in that it's regional or local to where somebody goes missing. It's not statewide like an Amber Alert, which is across the entire state. It does involve the ability for local, um, and surrounding agencies to coordinate with one another as well as with DPS to get if there were needed. Uh, you know, those kind of i 15 signs that go up. But I think most importantly what it does is it sets up a framework so that an immediacy can be kicked into gear that we can get communicating, that we can get word out there, and that we can also educate about the best strategies to, um, actually help someone rather than hurt someone in one of these scary situations. So that's the gist of the bill, and I'm certainly open to any questions that anyone may have.

  5. Committee chair1:33:22

     Okay. Anyone, uh, Representative Whyte have a question.

  6. Rep. Chris Whyte1:33:28

     Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. Uh, thank you for your work on this. Thank you. And coming up with this concept, you've mentioned it's used in other states. Can you explain how this is used in other states and what the outcomes have been?

  7. Sen. Jen Plumb1:33:39

     Well, similarly kind of to what I described, and it depends a little bit on the locality, what they want it to, to look like. Um, some do more of a statewide, some have st stuck with a local sort of a scenario. I should have, gosh, I had a list of the, the crew of them that actually have put them into place. I, I think there's, gosh, I might have to phone a friend, uh, to our policy analyst who ha actually helped me when we, we constructed all this, were there like 12 of them, Lacey, oh, hang on, there's a vote. Which bill is this? It's not, is the season Nothing like a quick multitask? Thumbs up? Um, was it, was it around 12 of them? Lacey? No. Find it, but there are a few other Ones in Colorado. Yeah, there, they were all around this. They were all around the nation. And I think that at least anecdotally, there hadn't been any firm, um, you know, like scientifically structured research pieces into it. But anecdotally, what people were reporting is that they were getting folks more easily with this system in place, getting them, I should say, getting them back to where they needed to be, finding them, having them be less vulnerable. But it's a hard thing to study in terms of number of days with and number of days without sort of a thing. Um, I'm hopeful that it will have that impact here and I think it's something we should keep an eye on and, and actually make sure we're doing what we hope to.

  8. Committee chair1:35:09

     Thank you. Okay. Any other questions from the committee?

  9. Unknown speaker1:35:15speaker not certain

     Um, I have a question and you, you kind of addressed it at first. Some. We wanna be careful not to over alert. Yeah. What are the current alerts that we have? I mean, I know there's Amber and Silver. Mm-hmm. And there's another one that is not exactly an alert, but that has been in place with DPS, um, that wasn't exactly formalized, I think. And, and this will basically kind of replace that. Um, and those are really the only ones that I'm aware of for statewide. Okay. So we don't have too many of them. Yeah.

  10. Sen. Jen Plumb1:35:50

      Not too many of them. And I think that this, this need is so unique in that, um, there's a lot of, I think, education and thought that will go into explaining why we have to tread differently, um, with these populations. How we can help and not hurt in the way that we communicate. And I think also, at least from conversations with Chief Fred and with other folks, that they realized a decent gap in the event that had happened in their knowledge and their ability to link in and coordinate with others. And, and so the hope is that will be a big part of it too.

  11. Committee chair1:36:24

      Great. Okay. Thank you. Is anyone here from the public that would like to speak to this? Seeing none and none online. We'll come back to the committee for any further discussion or action.

  12. Rep. Jose Hollins1:36:44

      Representative my mic off accidentally. There you go. Can You hear me okay? Yep. Um, checking to see. Do we, we don't have a substitute? No. Um, a move that we pass out SB 1 28 public alert amendments with a favorable recommendation That's in order.

  13. Committee chair1:37:06

      Um, would you like to speak to that? I'll waive. Okay. Okay. We had a couple of our online members that had had a hand up if you wanna speak to the bill. G does. Okay. Representative Gwynn, you've got your hand up. Do you wanna, uh, make a comment?

  14. Rep. Gwynn1:37:26

      You, uh, I'm gonna support the vote today. I still don't know where I'm gonna be on the floor or I, I have some concern because long, long ago we have previously discussed the slippery slope that has become these alert systems and the fatigue that they create on the general public, that confusion, because they don't know what each alert does. And then the more we create alerts, I think the less important the other alerts become. And so I just, that just gives me some pause. I just wanted that on the record.

  15. Committee chair1:38:10

      Noted. Thank you. Okay. And just a note, all of our people online, we need to have you vote, uh, all of you to be sure that we have quorum. We have four in, in the room here, so. Okay.

  16. Committee chair1:38:28

      So we have a before us to move out, uh, from Representative Hollins to pass out favorably SB 1 28 Public alert amendments, no amendments or substitutes. Uh, Senator Plumb, would you like to sum on that?

  17. Sen. Jen Plumb1:38:44

      Oh, I, I mean, absolutely appreciate, um, the comments from Representative Gwynn and it's something that has gone through my head a lot too. If we have an alert for every possible thing, then they are no longer eye catching or ear catching. And, um, it, it, but for the, I think, unique vulnerability and concerns with this population, I would have that same reservation. Um, so I, but I appreciate him sharing that. 'cause those are the conversations that are important. And with that, I would appreciate any support.

  18. Committee chair1:39:11

      Okay. Thank you. Representative Hollins. I waive. Thank you. Okay. So before us, SB 1 28 public alert amendments, we'll do a voice vote on that.

  19. Unknown speaker1:39:22speaker not certain

      All in favor of passing this out to the floor. Say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

  20. Committee chair1:39:29

      You got it. Okay. And, uh, any opposed? Okay. Thank you. That passes out favorably. Thank you, committee. Thank you. All right, Angela, I mean, Representative

• Mar 4, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (5 turns)

  1. Speaker Pro Tem (presiding)2:13:14

     First substitute Senate Bill 1 28 Public Alert Amendments by Senator Plumb. This bill was heard in law enforcement and criminal justice with the vote of 6 0 5. The House sponsors Representative Clancy, Representative Clancy.

  2. Rep. Tyler Clancy2:13:28

     Thank you Mr. Speaker Pro Tem Senate Bill 1 28 8 is the result of collaboration with the Department of Public Safety, uh, law enforcement leaders like Chief Brian Red and many other advocates in the space to make sure that we can issue state level missing person notifications for individuals, uh, adults, excuse me, that have a cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disability. The reason this is important is because these, uh, adults have more challenges, um, when it comes to advocating for themselves and are, are by definition more vulnerable than, um, than other adults who, who may be going missing. This specifically is for adults with dis uh, cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities that are believed to be in danger. Um, this has been adopted in, in many states and, uh, would be a great asset for public safety in the state of Utah. Thank you, Mr. Speaker ProAm.

  3. Speaker Pro Tem (presiding)2:14:23

     Thank you Representative Clancy discussion to the bill. See none Representative Clancy for summation.

  4. Rep. Tyler Clancy2:14:30

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Pro I'll waive

  5. Speaker Pro Tem (presiding)2:14:32

     Summation is waived. Voting is open on first substitute Senate bill 1 28 per Representative Okerlund Representative Maloy, representative Liz B Seeing all present, having voted voting will be closed. First substitute Senate bill 1 28, having received 71 yay votes and zero na votes passes the house. Be signed by the speaker Pro tem. Return to the Senate for the signature of the president. Representative Watkins.