S.B. 182 Attorney Admission to Jail Facilities Amendments

What this bill does

The bill would require Utah jails to let defense attorneys visit prospective clients who are held there, so an inmate can vet an attorney before hiring them. Under the amendment, an attorney may enter only when the inmate, their family, or a helper requests the visit, except for civil rights 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

• 7 yes, 0 no, 1 absentSenate Business and Labor Committee: Amendment Recommendation · Feb 6, 2026Who voted how
• 7 yes, 1 noSenate Business and Labor Committee: vote to approve it · Feb 6, 2026Who voted how

Hearings and debates

• Feb 3, 2026 Senate Business and Labor Committee
• Feb 6, 2026 Senate Business and Labor Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (19 turns)

  1. Committee chair (presiding)1:55:00

     You're right there. So we'll go with Senate Bill 180 2. Attorney Admission to jail facilities amendments. Senator Pitcher.

  2. Sen. Stephanie Pitcher1:55:07

     Thank you, Mr. Chair. I also have a substitute on this one. Um, I'm not sure if it's appropriate to move it now, but I'll at least speak to that sub. Why Don't you just address what the sub is and then we can, then we can move it. Sure. The sub addresses a little bit of feedback that I got from, um, an attorney who I believe represents UAC with regards to when an attorney can enter jail facilities, um, to solicit, uh, clients. And basically the sub says that, that practice

  3. Committee chair (presiding)1:55:33

     Senator, sorry to interrupt. Just quickly to clarify, we, we see an amendment to the, to the, Oh, it's an amendment. Sorry. Yeah. Okay. So, yeah, My apologies to get those so matter. Why, why don't you do the, why don't you discuss the bill. Tell us what the amendment does and then we can make a motion then.

  4. Sen. Stephanie Pitcher1:55:51

     Okay. So what the bill does is it, um, it addresses, um, an attorney's ability to access jail facilities. And this was born out of, uh, something that happened in a certain jail, in a county of the first class, uh, that prohibited, uh, for a small amount of time was prohibiting defense attorneys from entering the jail to speak with prospective clients. Um, I understand that that policy was reversed quite quickly. Um, but the issue was that, and I think at the, at the time of the position that was taken was that there needed to be a notice of appearance that had been entered from that, uh, attorney in order to speak with an inmate. The issue, I think, um, for many of us practicing in the system is that an inmate probably should have the right to vet an attorney before they hire them. I think that's probably good practice. And a phone call alone doesn't usually do the trick. Um, so while that policy was reversed, I, I still think it's good practice and probably, um, important for us to clarify that an attorney should have ability to visit with prospective clients at the jail so that that individual can make a more informed determination about hiring them. Um, and then on the amendment, the change that it makes here is just to, uh, clarify that an attorney can't on their own accord, enter the jail to solicit clients that that has to be requested by either the inmate, their family, or an individual helping them out, um, with the exception of civil rights cases, which are a little different. So that, that concludes my presentation.

  5. Sen. Stephanie Pitcher1:57:19

     Yeah. And to that point, I, you know, when the, when I first saw the bill, um, I reached out to my sheriff, who's a good friend, somebody I trust, and he had him review the bill, and that was the one point he picked up on, was about an individ, an attorney coming in without a, a request coming from the prisoners.

  6. Committee chair (presiding)1:57:36

     So, um, do you wanna make the motion to amend?

  7. Sen. Stephanie Pitcher1:57:40

     Yes. I'll, uh, move that we adopt the amendment.

  8. Committee chair (presiding)1:57:43

     Okay. The motion before is, is to, uh, adopt amendment number one and Senator pitcher's name for Senate Bill 180 2. Discussion to that motion? Seeing none. Any further summation on the motion to amend? No a Place the motion. All in favor say, aye. Aye. Any posts say nay rule that pass unanimous. Seven to zero. Okay. To the amended bill questions, uh, come back to the committee for any questions. Senator Sandall. Thank you. Whoops.

  9. Sen. Scott D. Sandall1:58:18

     Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, senator, uh, the amendment really helps me quite a bit, honestly, because that was a, my biggest concern about the bill. Uh, my second concern is deals with kind of what has been the common practice, and if this was something that was, uh, uh, uh, just one case, one off case. Is this, uh, do you know of other instances where, uh, someone outta jail has prohibited attorney from coming when asked during the hours that you've talked about here? Um, I understand that because just because one person, uh, kind of missed the mark and, and said, no, I'm worried that we're running legislation, uh, that is already in common practice. So I guess my question is, have you spoken with the, the Sheriff's Association for or, or, uh, any, anybody else in and around the jails to see if this is something we can handle without a bill file or should be handled without a bill file? Quite honestly.

  10. Sen. Stephanie Pitcher1:59:20

      Yeah. I appreciate that. Um, it's my understanding the sheriff's provided feedback through you at who I have been speaking with. Um, and I'll just note it, it wasn't one person, it was a whole jail facility that made that determination for a couple days, which really mucked things up. Um, but apart from that incident, what happened over, which happened over the interim? Um, I do think the bill also provides some helpful guidelines, um, just asking jails to post publicly their hours, their visiting hours, and things like that, that there is some inconsistency about that from jail to jail. Um, and many jails have different visiting hours from attorneys than they do for the general public. Um, I think both practices are helpful to just let attorneys and, and the public know so that, um, those can happen more efficiently.

  11. Sen. Scott D. Sandall2:00:02

      Follow up if we can please. And I guess a response maybe from, uh, sheriffs or whoever, but aren't those hours posted online somewhere of the jail?

  12. Sen. Stephanie Pitcher2:00:11

      Some are, but not all. Thanks.

  13. Committee chair (presiding)2:00:15

      Okay. Further questions. Seeing none, is there anyone in the audience like to testify on this Bill? We have one Danny Line. Okay. Please come forward.

  14. Steve Burton, Director, Utah Defense Attorney Association2:00:33

      Committee, always good to see you. Um, Steve Burton. I represent the Utah Defense Attorney Association. Um, I, I had to deal with a couple of these attorneys who, uh, Uintah the jail and tried to visit some clients. Uh, one of them, his partner represented the individual, but because his personal name wasn't on the appearance, but it was his partner's name, so the, the firm represented them, but the partner's name was on that appearance. The, the jail wouldn't let him visit. And so, um, we appreciate this clarification because, uh, as was mentioned, sometimes there's somebody at the jail or sometimes the jail themselves, they decide to make a policy. Um, and we appreciate that the jail corrected that policy. But, but this is what happens is sometimes somebody says, well, you're not the name on that paper. And, and it's very difficult for us to help people out who are asking for help, uh, if there's certain policies that don't allow us to do that. So, uh, yeah, we support the bill. We appreciate it. Um, I think that everyone here recognizes if you were, uh, in jail or one of your family members was in jail and just needed to figure out what on earth was going on and needed to talk to an attorney, you'd want that attorney to be able to do so, uh, and avoid, you know, certain technicalities that would prevent that person from receiving Helper advice.

  15. Committee chair (presiding)2:01:56

      Thank you. Okay. We'll conclude public comment. Come back to the committee for further deliberation or action. Senator McKay,

  16. Sen. Daniel McCay2:02:10

      I'll make a motion that we pass the bail out favorably as long as the sponsor will identify which county it was. I'll leave that up to her discretion and summation.

  17. Committee chair (presiding)2:02:21

      Alright, the motion before us is to favorably recommend Senate Bill 180 2 as amended, uh, discussion of the motion. Senator Musselman?

  18. Sen. Calvin R. Musselman2:02:30

      Yeah, I think I'll, I'll vote in favor of that. Um, it, it appears that based on what you had, you had stated that, that you, you believe that the Sheriff's Association was communicated with the uac, which seems reasonable. And that's, uh, looks like that's probably where this amendment language came from, maybe from them, I suppose, but it, it makes it land a lot better. But, uh, I'm gonna vote yes just to qualifier that I'm gonna talk to the Sheriff's Association after and just kinda make sure everybody's in the right spot.

  19. Committee chair (presiding)2:03:01

      Great. Okay. Further discussion. Saying none. Back to you. Some. And, you know, I'll wave Senator McKay, Uh, motion stands. I guess I'll take that as a wave. All in favor, uh, favor recommending Senate Bill 180 2 as amended. Please say Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. No, I wanted the summation. I rule that passes seven to one with Senator Sandall voting in opposition. Thank you. Thank you.