S.B. 323 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Recodification

What this bill does

S.B. 323 would create a new Department of Criminal Justice with a commissioner and two deputy commissioners to lead criminal justice programs now under the executive branch. It would consolidate the existing programs, including the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice and indigent defense programs, into a single structure and would not add any new funding.

Plain-English summary written by AI from the official description. Check the official text below.

Your legislators on this bill

Enter your address to see what your own representative and senator did on this bill.

Quotes come from the official recordings' automatic captions, which can mishear words. Speakers and summaries are identified by AI and can be wrong. Use the ▶ links to check the recording.

Take action

This bill's session is over, but your legislators still want to hear from you. Ideas that died often come back next year.

Enter your address to get your legislators' contact information and a ready-to-send message about this bill.

Every vote

• 6 yes, 0 no, 3 absentSenate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee: vote to approve it · Feb 24, 2026Who voted how
• 23 yes, 0 no, 6 absentFirst of two Senate votes · Mar 2, 2026Who voted how
• 27 yes, 0 no, 2 absentFinal Senate vote · Mar 3, 2026Who voted how
• 12 yes, 0 no, 4 absentHouse Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee: vote to change the bill · Mar 4, 2026Who voted how
• 12 yes, 0 no, 4 absentHouse Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee: Amendment Recommendation · Mar 4, 2026Who voted how
• 11 yes, 0 no, 5 absentHouse Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee: vote to approve it · Mar 4, 2026Who voted how
• 62 yes, 1 no, 12 absentFinal House vote · Mar 6, 2026
• 22 yes, 0 no, 7 absentSenate vote to accept the other chamber's changes · Mar 6, 2026

Hearings and debates

• Feb 24, 2026 Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (21 turns)

  1. Committee chair (presiding)2:01:52

     Senate bill number 8 3 23 First Senate Bill 3 23 criminal, and June Criminal Justice Reification. Time is yours. Senator Weiler.

  2. Sen. Todd Weiler2:02:02

     Thank you. I'm just gonna say this is, um, a long bill, um, and, um, I've got Tom Ross here. It's exactly 5,239 lines. It's 449 pages, and it makes no substantive changes to the law. And with that, I'm gonna kick it to Mr. Ross to make a, a short summary of the bill.

  3. Tom Ross, Executive Director, Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice2:02:29

     Okay. Thank you, uh, to Senator Weiler and chair and committee members, my name is Tom Ross. I'm the Executive Director of the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, and I'm going to try to do this as quickly as I can. Um, just a quick background. I think most of you know, and many in this room know that I came from a law enforcement background. Law enforcement has very structured organizations, and there's pros. Uh, there's a lot of pros that happen in moving information up and down in communication. And when I came into CCJJ in 2021, the first thing I noticed is we really didn't have an organizational flow of information. It was a very linear organization. CCJJ was founded in 1983, about 40 years ago with one commission and a little bit of federal funding. And what appears to have happened over the 40 years is a lot of pieces have been cobbled in to CCJJ, kind of added in as a Blanding spot without really ever changing the organization flow to be able to recognize the growth. We're now an agency that, um, Let's See. It's grown to, from the one commission to multiple commissions, um, 11 divisions, 85 plus employees, approximately $75 million that we administer federal and state funding. We currently have two administrators, myself and one deputy executive director or deputy director Kanosh Matthews. I'm assigned to about 27 total commissions, boards, councils, task forces. And as you can imagine, with multiple meetings, those become very difficult to try to attend. As I should be doing based on the statute, I also have 10 direct reports. So it's 10 individuals that are looking to me directly for information. I handle their, their, uh, um, performance, their, um, strategic plans. And that's about 50 meetings a year for just those 10 individuals. On top of that, we're a growing agency that's, uh, needs to be a trusted criminal justice voice for the governor's office, legislature, local governor, government stakeholders, building and maintaining, and most critically repairing relationships. So in the, on top of this, one of the areas that's been in conflict in talking with the governor's office over the years is I'm statutorily appointed by the governor. I'm a member of the cabinet in the executive branch, and I'm confirmed by the Senate, but also by statute I'm required to be the voice of the CCJJ Commission, which is the information flows up to it, and also represent that voice to you at the legislature and in the governor's office. And you can imagine occasionally those can be in conflict. So the hope here here is that we can restructure an agency that has outgrown itself and put in place an agency that's more representative of what we need. Today, the solution is to create the Department of Criminal Justice as a state agency and create a new statute 75 E. And Senator Cullimore weer also already mentioned how long this is and, and, uh, and, and how many lines. But it is important to realize that all we have done, or the drafter, which, uh, has put in a lot of time and effort is moved all of the existing statute over under 75 E and now put it in a chronological order under the Department of Criminal Justice. That will be much easier to, to understand and follow going forward. This reorganization is a priority of the Governor and the chief of staff. This department provides a foundation that better fits the role this agency plays in the criminal justice system. The current agency, which is the title of the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, only acknowledges the commission's, boards and council piece of what we do. There are numerous other duties and responsibilities that this agency is responsible for, and that has been growing over the years. What we are looking to do is create a commission position, a commissioner position that the individual sitting in my seat, we would add two deputy commissioners that would be administrative staff to help spread out the responsibilities of managing the organization. We would still have an executive director over the commission on, uh, the commissions on criminal and juvenile justice. That would still be the voice for you and the governor's office to, of the stakeholder groups that we now meet with in the public. But it would untether me from that responsibility and allow me to manage the agency, uh, as a whole, which is clear that that needs to, that that needs to occur. Um, part of what delayed this bill moving forward is we weren't sure if it originally, if it was gonna move forward because there's no funding. And, uh, as it got closer to the session, it was decided by the governor's office and myself that we would move forward revenue neutral. We're not asking for funding to accomplish this. And we will do the best we can within the agency current funding structure to put this in place because we can't wait. We have a, we, we list out some of these, uh, assignments for a deputy commissioner over budget and operations and a deputy commissioner over policies and commissions. But due to time, um, we have a handout that we can provide to anyone that, that would like to see that. And, uh, but happy to answer any questions. Will You give that also a handout to our staff? They can pass that, but also post it, um, with the committee materials on the, on the website. Alright, that concludes our presentation. We're happy to answer any questions.

  4. Committee chair (presiding)2:08:35

     The conclusion of the presentation, go to the committee for committee questions. If your lights are on, it's, uh, questions on the bill. I see no lights. So we'll go. The public comment. Anybody hear from the public would like to speak to this. I see one, uh, two, three if, uh, four. So maybe Todd, just for expediting, you wanna stand up and let them come sit on it real sit in the seats real quick. Alright. Go ahead and just, uh, state your name, who you represent, and go ahead and speak, and you can sign the sign in after you're done speaking.

  5. Pamela Vickery, Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee2:09:11

     Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. Pamela Vickery. I am a youth defense attorney. I'm a member of the Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee within CCJJ, as well as the sentencing commission. I'm just here to speak in support of this. I have appreciated all of the time and work that I've been able to do with, um, the d various different commissions under CCJJ. And I do think that this will continue to help balance their ongoing obligations that they've been getting over the years, and I'm very supportive of it.

  6. Committee chair (presiding)2:09:35

     Thank you. Go ahead.

  7. Tyler Kotter, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Public Safety2:09:37

     Thanks, chair. We appreciate it. My name is Tyler Kotter. I'm Deputy Commissioner Utah Department of Public Safety, speaking in support of this bill for the, the reasons mentioned. We believe this is a structure that would help, I think, continue the work moving forward and provide, I think, great information, continue to provide great information to the legislative body and on, and also streamline some processes that are clear over the last 40 years that have grown beyond what it was originally intended. Thank you.

  8. Jared Garcia, Executive Director, Department of Corrections2:10:03

     Thank you, Mr. Chair. Jared Garcia, executive Director of the Utah Department of Corrections. I'll be brief as well. I think it's all been said, but we're just, uh, as a stakeholder of the commissions and as a state agency leader, we're just very appreciative of the CCJJ and the work that they do to bring different voices to the table, different layers of expertise to find meaningful recommendations for public safety. So, uh, we would ask that you pass this, this bill and move it forward. Thank you. Thank

  9. Committee chair (presiding)2:10:27

     You. Go ahead.

  10. Blake Hills, Chair, Board of Pardons and Parole2:10:29

      Thank you. My name is Blake Hills. I'm the chair of the Board of Pardons and Parole, and I'm here to speak in favor of the bill. The board is one of the stakeholders that meets with CCJJ on a regular basis. So I have seen personally the good work that they do in advancing the work of the criminal justice system and providing a reasoned collaborative voice to you as the policy makers. And I believe this change will allow them to better further their processes and procedures. And I ask you to support the bill. Thank

  11. Committee chair (presiding)2:11:05

      You. Thank, thank you. Uh, make sure you sign in if you've spoke, if you haven't, please sign in. Go ahead.

  12. Eric Clarke, General Counsel, Utah Association of Counties2:11:11

      Thanks, Mr. Chair. I'm Eric Clark. I'm the General Counsel for the Utah Association of Counties, and we really enjoy our, our good working relationship with CCJJ. I appreciate the sponsor for ringing this bill. I think we've all seen CCJJ grow in what they do over the years as they've been asked to take on more. And we, we just support this reorganization.

  13. Committee chair (presiding)2:11:29

      Thank you. Thank you. We're gonna go online. Um, Jared Rigby, uh, if I called your name, if you could, as quickly as possible, um, go ahead and turn your mic on. Yes. State who you are, who you represent, and where you're from. Thank

  14. Jared Rigby, Wasatch County Sheriff2:11:44

      You. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Jared Rigby, uh, the Wasatch County Sheriff. Also, uh, the Vice President of the Utah Sheriff's Association, uh, speaking for the association in support of, uh, of this bill. Also, uh, sheriff Chad Jensen. He's the current chair of the CCJJ. And, uh, wanted to excuse him, he wishes he were here. He's asked me to speak on his behalf, also in favor of the bill, uh, as quickly as I can. Uh, sheriff Jensen, uh, has appreciated the CCJ J'S efforts, um, in, in everything that they've done to try to represent a consensus driven voice, uh, to the policy makers. And also, uh, we all appreciate the CCJJ staff and their leadership, especially the, the work that they do. Um, constantly gathering data, uh, producing objective reports, uh, managing, um, criminal justice departments. Um, they do an excellent job, uh, with education and training and, uh, and other, other justice functions like, uh, filling judicial vacancies. So, just on, on behalf of, uh, sheriff Jensen, he wanted to express confidence, uh, in this re reification bill and this new department and, uh, and urge support for it.

  15. Committee chair (presiding)2:13:07

      Then on, uh, uh, for, If you could, if, if you could wrap, if you could wrap up, we're gonna have to move on. We got other people sitting here. Go ahead.

  16. Jared Rigby, Wasatch County Sheriff2:13:14

      You bet. Yeah. On behalf of the Sheriff's Association, the, the same feelings, uh, we're grateful for, uh, what, what the CCJJ has done. And, uh, and urge, uh, in favor, uh, on this bill.

  17. Committee chair (presiding)2:13:28

      Thank you so much. Um, Brian, William, you'll have to state your name, uh, who you represent and where you're from. Go ahead.

  18. Brian Gwilliam, Lone Peak Chief of Police, for the Utah Chiefs of Police Association2:13:35

      Yes. Thank you. Brian William. I'm the Chief of the Lone Peak Police Department in Utah County. I'm also on the executive board for the Utah Chiefs of Police Association. And I'll be brief just, uh, as, uh, as has been mentioned by my colleagues and others, uh, we would just urge support for this bill, the collaboration that CCJJ is being able to, to bring amongst various stakeholders that's, uh, oftentimes might disagree on things, but we come together and, and make decisions that are for the good of, uh, of all. Uh, we're confident that this reification bill will help the new agency more efficiently manage its various functions and provide a foundation for the future than we would urge your support.

  19. Committee chair (presiding)2:14:15

      Thank you. That concludes our public comment. We'll come back to the committee for either further discussion or committee action. We are on SB 3 23. Looking for the motion. I see Senator Balderree, go ahead.

  20. Sen. Jan Balderree2:14:29

      I move that we passed that, that motion is in order. I will place that the motion is to favorably recommend SB 3 23 criminal and juvenile justice.

  21. Committee chair (presiding)2:14:44

      Uh, reification. Would you like to speak to that? I'll waive, Uh, to the sponsor for some I will waive. Thank you for the motion. The, I'll restate the motion for vote. Motion is to favorably recommend SB 3 23. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none. I rule that motion passes unanimously. SB 23 is passed.

• Mar 2, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (8 turns)

  1. Sen. Todd Weiler1:04:29

     Uh, Mr. President, um, this bill establishes a new Department of criminal justice entitled 75 E of the Utah Code, including commissioner and two Deputy Commissioners to improve leadership, oversight and accountability. This is a reorganization of CCJJ that consolidates and re codifies the existing criminal justice and indigent defense programs into a single structure, streamlining operations and improving coordination. It also enhances oversight of commissions, legislative processes, and agency operations and finance. And with that, I will yield to any questions on Senate Bill 3 23.

  2. President Adams (presiding)1:05:11

     Say no questions. Senator Weiler, I'm going to go to you for a motion.

  3. Sen. Todd Weiler1:05:15

     Thank you. I move that Senate Bill 3 23, be Read for a third time.

  4. President Adams (presiding)1:05:19

     Thank you. And the question is, shall Senate bill 3 23 be read A third time roll call vote.

  5. Senate clerk1:05:24

     Senator Vickers Baldy Lewiner Bus comore as Camilla Fillmore Grove. Three Aye. Rover Aye. Harper Hankins. Ipson Aye. Johnson Aye. Quan McKay Mikel Milner Musman Owens Pitcher Lum Rebe Sandal Stevenson Stratton Vickers. Weiler Aye. Wilson Aye. Winterton Aye.

  6. President Adams (presiding)1:06:11

     President Adams Aye. Senate Bill 3 23 Having received 23 a votes zero in a votes six being absent shall be read a third time.

  7. President Adams (presiding)1:06:21

     First substitute Senate bill 2 52. First substitute Senate bill 2 52, water usage at state owned Facilities Amendments. Senator Pitcher, Senator Wilson. Motion to circle sponsors off the floor. Motion to circle. All in favor say aye. Aye. Can you opposed Will that motion passes. The bill is circled First substitute Senate bill 1 93. First substitute Senate bill 1 93. State Legal Holiday Amendments. Senator Stratton. Senator Stratton.

  8. Sen. Kathleen Stratton1:06:56

     Thank you Mr. President. I'm grateful for the opportunity to present this, this bill. We've been working on this and doing some great things over the last couple of years. We had this bill before us, uh, in form last year, and with with good improvement, we were able to create the state Holy Day designation. What we have in this is building upon that as we look at the, the wonderful cross-section of faith in our community. Uh, so many wonderful faith traditions that are so important as, uh, we know it's the taproot of all our freedoms and liberties and, uh, recognizing

• Mar 3, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (6 turns)

  1. Sen. Todd Weiler1:17:27

     and two deputy commissioner. So this is a reorganization of CCJJ. It reifies and consolidates the existing statutes and programs to improve organization oversight and efficiency. The proposal strengthens leadership structures and clarifies responsibilities while removing outdated provisions. It makes no substantive policy changes and does not request any new funding. And with that, I'll yield to any questions.

  2. Senate President (presiding)1:17:57

     Senator Weiler, thank you for the presentation. Looking for discussion now, see no discussion. I'm gonna go to you for a motion.

  3. Sen. Todd Weiler1:18:05

     Thank you. I move that Senate Bill 3 23 pass.

  4. Senate President (presiding)1:18:07

     Thank you. And the question is, shall Senate bill 3 23 pass Roque vote.

  5. Senate clerk1:18:12

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

  6. Senate President (presiding)1:19:02

     President Adams Aye. Senate Bill 3 23. Heaven received 27 yay votes, zero. Nay votes to being absent, passes his body and will be sent to the house for their consideration.

• Mar 4, 2026 House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (39 turns)

  1. Committee chair44:47

     and he's gonna present SB 3 23 criminal juvenile justice reification. And, uh, we're doing a sub on that one, right? Yeah. Um, thank you. I think, is it showing a sub and an amendment? Okay. We'll do the sub and the amendment.

  2. Sen. Todd Weiler45:06

     The sub is mostly coordinating clauses. The amendment is, uh, to fix some typos that weren't taken outta the sub.

  3. Committee chair45:13

     Okay. So it's sub two, right? Yes. The la the last sub one? Yes. Sorry, sub one, Sub one, Sub two I think might be wilcox's.

  4. Sen. Todd Weiler45:22

     So sub one is what I'd, what what I'd like to present. Okay,

  5. Committee chair45:26

     Go ahead. Okay.

  6. Sen. Todd Weiler45:27

     So this is basically reorganizing CCJJ. This is at the request of the governor's office, and I'm gonna kick it to Tom. Um, sub two, I think there's been some discussion about changing the name. And I'm just gonna let the house decide that I, I I'm gonna move sub one here. If Wilcox wants to move sub two on the floor, I'm gonna leave that up to him. I don't have a strong preference on that, but I, if I could, I'm gonna kick it to Tom to briefly explain the reorganization. It's a long bill, but it's a simple reorganization. Alright.

  7. Tom Ross, Executive Director, Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice45:56

     Thank you Chair Committee members. My name is Tom Ross. I'm the Executive director of the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice. Appreciate, uh, Senator Weiler carrying this bill. As was mentioned, it is a priority bill for the governor's office. And maybe if I could just start with, I think most of you or many of you know that I came from law enforcement prior to this role here five years ago at the governor's office. And the one thing about law enforcement is a very structured organizational environment. There's flow up and down. Everyone knows who they report to, they know how to get decisions made and it works very well, but it's also one of the most regulated organizations. And then I came to CCJJ in 2021 and it was the least structured agency organization I've ever been around. So it's kind of the tale of two organizations. I am not talking about making CCJJ like a police department or law enforcement, but I think you'll understand here in a minute what we're talking about. CCJJ was founded in 1983 for one commission and some federal funding. And the organizational structure has not changed other than adding more linear positions For 40 years, this agency has grown from one commission, little federal funding to 11 divisions, 85 plus employees, and we manage about 75 million federal and state dollars. CCJ only has two administrators, myself and one deputy director. My position, legis statutorily, is assigned to 12 commissions, boards and councils within CCJJ and 15 State task force councils and committees for a total of 27. As I've been here for five years, it's a very, very difficult task to try to be at all these places and still represent what I think the main function of what you would want and what the governor would want. Have me running the agency. I also have 10 direct reports that I manage, and they're all senior director level senior positions that have a time sensitive demand for my time. And my deputy, um, director carries a similar number just to give you an idea on the strategic plan that we've implemented. And the performance plan, which I fully support and I believe are wonderful. I have 50 new meetings that are added a year to just manage those two spaces faces. And then on top of that, expect advantage of growing agency. Be a trusted criminal justice voice for the governor legislature, local government stakeholders, and maybe most importantly, build and repair relationships. I think that's a lot of what I do. There was one other area that's also, uh, a challenge and has been a problem for the governor's office especially, is I'm statutorily appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. I also am statutorily required to carry the voice of the CCJJ Commission when it comes to their majority vote. Most of the time that marries. But every once in a while, as you can imagine, it doesn't. And it puts me in a very difficult spot. Do I represent the agency or do I represent the commission? Volunteer voices And this, we're, we're, as we go through these changes, we're looking to change at least this position as the executive director. So basically what we're asking for is I would be untethered from all these commissions, boards, councils, and task forces, with the exception of a couple, the Indigent Defense Commission and the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission. They're already more autonomous within CCJJ and it's important that the executive director at least know what's happening in those spaces and to be able to provide some of the input for the decisions that are made by all the independent commissioners that vote. But the others would be assigned to other positions within the agency. So a solution is to create the Department of Criminal Justice as a state agency, we would move it out of the governor's office and create a new statute 75 E that would have all CCJJ statutes in one space. Right now, because the agency's been bifurcated over the years, they're in different areas of the code and it's confusing to find exactly what you're looking for. This would put everything in one space and 450 pages worth is all in one area. No substantive changes whatsoever to the duties we currently do. Those would just transfer over to this new Department of Criminal Justice. This foundation better fits the role this agency plays. So if you think about the commission on Criminal juvenile justice, that really only reflects our commission board side of the agency. But we have many other duties and responsibilities from grant funding to research to data to the Office for victims of crime. And so it doesn't fit in that title, but the Department of Criminal Justice allows you as the legislature and the governor to put pieces in as needed and they would all fit and make sense. And changing the administrative side of it. My position would become a commissioner position with two assigned deputy commissioners. So instead of me having 10 direct reports, I would drop to two and then those deputy commissioners would fill in the, the spots that I was carrying before. We will still have an executive director that will be assigned to the commission's, boards and councils, just like I've been doing for the last five years, that would carry their vote in your committee hearings and, and express what that stakeholder group is saying. I would just be able to speak separately from that position. The governor's office told us when we started going into this conversation and we recognized the budget was going to be tight, they said, uh, I was actually asking if we should delay it. And they said, no, we, we wanna move forward and have you help get this up and going while you're here. And by the way, there's no money, so you're gonna have to absorb it. So we are prepared to absorb it. There is no fiscal note. We will do the best we can and we will just kind of work our way through it over the coming years. With that, I could go through how it splits up, but that's basically what this bill is and happy to answer any questions if, if you have any.

  8. Committee chair52:29

     Great, thank you. Does that conclude your presentation?

  9. Tom Ross, Executive Director, Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice52:32

     Yes. Thank you.

  10. Committee chair52:34

      Alright, we'll bring it to the committee for clarifying questions. I don't see any, we'll open it up to the public. Anybody from the public that would like to speak to this bill? 1, 2, 3, 4. Do we have a one? Okay. We have five people. Come on up. Uh, fill the chairs right now and we're gonna give you a minute and a half. Doesn't seem like a lot, but once you start talking it's a lot.

  11. Chad Jensen, sheriff, Utah Sheriffs Association53:07

      Go ahead, sir. Well, Thank you for letting me be here. I'm, uh, sheriff Chad Janssen, and I represent the Utah Sheriff's Association. But this bill in particular, I also represent, um, CCJJ, as the chair of that, um, commission this year. Um, CCJJ has been a great thing and has been hugely impactful to public safety and law enforcement and all the, all the stakeholder, all the stakeholders who are involved in, in the decisions and the bills that get written. And it's really brought a collaborative piece and we, I think we come out with, with better policy and better bills, um, as we all work together. Um, that would've never happened without the leadership and of Tom and the CCJJ and all the staff that he has that puts together all the reports and everything and provides a forum so we can all have these discussions and, and bring better, better options sometimes to, um, the policy makers. Um, I think this is a great move. I think it's a little bit confusing for all the stakeholders in the criminal justice to know who to call on, when to call over which priority is that each different group has. This brings a lot of structure, it brings a lot of organization, um, and it brings a lot of efficiencies to everything in the criminal justice system that, that we're all trying to do. So, um, on behalf of the Utah Sheriff's Association, we a hundred percent support, um, this bill and as chair of the CCJJ, um, I also support it and hope that it, hope that it passes. Thank you.

  12. Committee chair54:34

      Great. Thank you. Okay. Who, who is next? Go ahead and fill both those chairs up.

  13. Pamela Vickrey, youth defense attorney, CCJJ54:44

      Pamela Vickery. I'm a youth defense attorney. I'm a member of the CCJJ, um, by way of the sentencing commission as well as our Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee. And I just wanted to testify that I support this. I've been a member of CCJJ and work with them for a long time, and as Tom said, what he really does is keep all of his children from killing each other. So kudos to him. Um, and I think this is a, a great move. We're very supportive.

  14. Committee chair55:07

      Great. Thank you. Go ahead sir.

  15. Blake Hills, Chair, Board of Pardons and Parole55:11

      Good afternoon. My name is Blake Hills. I am the chair of the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole, and I'm here as one of the stakeholders to let you all know that I personally and the board as a whole support this bill. I've been able to see personally the good work of CCJJ, and I believe that this bill and the restructuring will allow the agency to even better serve you as the policy makers by presenting a collaborative, well thought out view on all legislation and criminal justice issues. Thank you.

  16. Committee chair55:53

      Thank you very much. Go ahead, sir.

  17. Tyler Kotter, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Public Safety55:57

      Thank you. Committee and chair. My name is Tyler Cotter. I'm Deputy Commissioner with the Utah Department of Public Safety. Certainly speaking in support of this bill, I think it provides a framework that allows, allows it to move forward after the last 40 years has, has been spoken to. There's been a lot of things put into CCJJ and I think now's the time to certainly restructure that and make it more efficient and effective for moving forward. We sit on other commissions, uh, related to CCJJ, and, and we see this as valuable, uh, opportunity to continue to push forward the opportunity to collaborate and work with stakeholders and provide, I think, great policy, um, options for you as policy makers to make good decisions about, uh, where to go and how to proceed on certain things and allows voices, disparate voices to be heard and, and I think make good recommendations. So we fully support this bill. Thank you.

  18. Committee chair56:47

      Thank you. Okay. Anymore? Okay. We're gonna go online to, uh, Brian, William, Brian, uh, turn your video on and please introduce yourself and your organization and your location.

  19. Brian Gwilliam, Chief of Police, Lone Peak Police Department57:08

      Thank you, Mr. Chair. My name's Brian William. I'm the Chief of Police Alone Peak Police Department in Utah County. I'm also representing the Utah Chiefs of Police Association, uh, as a stakeholder on one of CCJ J'S Commission. We appreciate their efforts and the, the forum that they provide for meaningful dialogue and discussion to be collaborative amongst many different agencies and different voices that come, uh, and that have interest in legislation as it pertains to, uh, uh, criminal juvenile justice. Uh, the chiefs appreciate that the bill recognizes the essential role of the commission, uh, with the, with the agency, and also providing some important separation between the commission voices and the agency's function as part of the executive branch. Uh, we're confident that this, uh, reification bill will help, uh, the new agency effectively manage its various functions and provide a foundation for the future. And we urge, uh, your, uh, your support for this legislation. Thank you.

  20. Committee chair58:02

      Great. Thank you Chief for being here. Appreciate it. Uh, ref Iver, did you have a question for these witnesses or just for the, for the director?

  21. Unknown speaker58:15speaker not certain

      Yes, I could. Okay. Okay. Did you, did you miss this on clarifying questions? I had to take a Call and I said, um, Okay. Just a second. Okay.

  22. Committee chair58:25

      We're gonna close a public comment and bring it back to the committee

  23. Rep. Ken Ivory58:29

      for further discussion And action Representative by Thank You, Mr. Chair. Just, uh, and I think the committee all knows this, but I've had the opportunity to work with, uh, director Ross, uh, very substantially with the Victim Services Commission. And despite having dozens and dozens of meetings and commissions and committees and things to sit on, you wouldn't know it because he seems to give undivided attention to all of them and, uh, heart and soul as he does it. And it's been a pleasure to work with you on all of these things. Um, my only question that I would have is how, how we were talking this morning about kind of the hodgepodge of funding and we're working on this study for the Victim Services Commission. I assume this doesn't have any impact really on that, other than your direct role, which we would be sad to see you be not as involved, but we completely understand. Um, any, any impact that that has as we're moving to finalize the study on the Victim Services Commission? Yeah, appreciate that representative and also appreciate your comments. And on the finance side, one area that will be very helpful is within the 11 divisions, we actually have four finance individuals, and they've mostly, with the exception of my deputy director who helps coordinate, they mostly have worked independent. We're now gonna bring them together so that we can make sure we're doing similar things across the agency. I think that will be helpful to some of the conversations we've had, even in the victim's side with, with the funding. And, and that should be helpful. And I still intend to be present and go to commission meetings where I'm able to, especially the CCJJ, but it keeps me from having to run it and always be there and allows me to leave if I need to for other purposes. So I'll still try to stay engaged. I, I, I speak in support. And again, thank you. You, your, your work and your team's work has been very commendable. Thank you,

  24. Committee chair1:00:28

      Representative Ballard. And I'll remind the committee that we do have a sub and an amendment to adopt sub one.

  25. Rep. Melissa G. Ballard1:00:37

      Go ahead. Uh, thank you Mr. Chair. Motion to adopt first substitute of SB 3 23 criminal and juvenile justice reification.

  26. Committee chair1:00:45

      Thank you. The, uh, motion is to adopt the first substitute SB 3 23. Uh, would you like to respond to that motion? I support it. Okay. Did you wanna speak to it? I didn't even ask. Sorry. Waive. Okay. Waive. Alright. Any discussion to that motion? Okay. Seeing none, uh, we will take a, a voice vote. All in favor of adopting the sub, say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. So the first substitute is adopted and there's an amendment too, right? That's correct. Okay. Can I get a motion to adopt the amendment? Representative Ballard?

  27. Rep. Melissa G. Ballard1:01:28

      Go ahead. Motion to adopt, is it amendment one? Is that correct? That's correct. Okay.

  28. Rep. Melissa G. Ballard1:01:34

      Of, uh, SB 3 23, criminal and juvenile justice reification.

  29. Committee chair1:01:38

      Alright, the, would you like to speak to that? Waive? Okay. Uh, the motion is to adopt, uh, first amendment of SB 3 23. First substitute, we'll go to the sponsor. Um, I'll waive it's technical. Okay. And back to the motion waive. Alright. Uh, any other discussion? Okay. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. All. Great. The, uh, bill is substituted and amended. Uh, any further action or discussion?

  30. Rep. Melissa G. Ballard1:02:12

      Uh, um, motion to, um, pass out favorably a SB 3 23 Criminal and juvenile Justice reification.

  31. Committee chair1:02:21

      Thank you. The motion is a pass with a favorable recommendation, SB 3 23, first substitute and as amended criminal and juvenile justice reification. Okay. We'll go to the, uh, sponsor.

  32. Sen. Todd Weiler1:02:37

      Yeah, I just wanna actually as my summation thank Paige Nelson and the staff at O-L-R-G-C. This bill, unfortunately, is 449 pages, 15,239 lines. Uh, this bill was opened after the session had already started, and, um, they did some incredible work, so I just wanted to give them credit where credit's due.

  33. Committee chair1:03:00

      Great. Thank you to the maker of the motion.

  34. Rep. Melissa G. Ballard1:03:03speaker not certain

      Um, I am, I I wanted to mention a couple things. The first one is, um, thank you Director Ross. Under your leadership, it has brought all of these entities under an umbrella to be able to collaborate and coordinate, um, under your leadership with this perspective, um, of, of re codifying and bringing them under in an umbrella with you having, uh, uh, assistant deputy directors. Right? Um, I, I think this is for number one reason is because nobody else could have, could do this except for you. So, so this is a great way to perpetuate this great, um, CCJJ moving into the future. Um, secondly, for all of these entities that come to our standing committee and to appropriation committee regarding law enforcement and criminal justice, this is exceptional. Um, I anticipate that it may be a model for other places around the country, um, but mostly because we have the opportunity under this structure to save the state money, to align our data, um, as we, as this body has funded a modernization of O Track to be able to even more, to really find where we, where we repeating the offenders, where, what are the steps that we can change to prevent recidivism or to happening. And so I just wanna commend you and all of the groups that are under your, this umbrella for CCJJ, because I think the, even just creating this idea of a, of a different agency is, is innovative and will have tremendous results. I wanna say thank you so much for all your work.

  35. Committee chair1:04:54

      Thank you. Appreciate your comments. Great staff. Okay. Uh, any further discussion? Alright, we have, uh, you made a motion, right? Mm-hmm. Okay. So we have a motion to move fa uh, favorable move favorably. SB 3 23. First substitute as a mandate criminal and Juab juvenile justice reification. We'll take a, uh, a voice vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. That bill passes.

  36. Committee chair1:05:29

      Thank you, Senator. Thank you. Thank you, chief. Thank you. You'll always be chief to me. It sounds good. Thank you.

  37. Unknown speaker1:05:41speaker not certain

      Our system doesn't reflect what happens if, Okay.

  38. Committee chair1:06:03

      Okay, great. So there's been a little bit of confusion on the sponsor change, uh, but, uh, you're the floor sponsor, right?

  39. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee1:06:10

      Yep. Okay. So with that, we can go, we can proceed.

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

  1. Sen. Todd Weiler3:18:19

     Sorry about that. Wasn't my my plan to have four in a row. Um, one second here. Are we on? Oh, okay. 3 23. This is the reification of CCJJ. Um, there were just a few technical changes made in the House Committee. Uh, Tom Ross is good with it, so I'm good with it. So Mo Motion to concur her

  2. President of the Senate (presiding)3:18:45

     Discussion. To the motion to concur with that rounding endorsement. Seeing none. All in favor of the motion to Concur, say aye. Aye. Any opposed or rule that passes? The Senate has concurred and the question is, shall first substitute Senate Bill three twenty three pass. Roll call vote.

  3. President of the Senate (presiding, roll call)3:19:02speaker not certain

     Senator Vickers Baldry Aye. Lewin Aye. Ramer Aye. Bus Comore Escamia Fillmore Grover Harper Aye. Hankins Ipson Johnson. Aye. Quan Juab McKay Mikel Milner Musselman Owens Pitcher Plum Rebi Sandal Stevenson Stratton Vickers Weiler Wilson Winterton, president Adams

  4. President of the Senate (presiding)3:19:54

     First substitute Senate Bill five 20. Excuse me. First substitute Senate Bill 3 23 Wilson Rights. Okay, let me call that again. First substitute Senate bill 3 23. Having received 22 yay votes, zero na votes seven being absent passes the Senate will be sent to the house for further con or for the signature of the speaker. Second Senate Joint resolution six. Second Substitute Senate Joint Resolution six. Joint resolution amending Court rules. Senator Sandall.

  5. Sen. Karen Kwan3:20:30

     Senator Kwan. Thank you Mr. President.

  6. President of the Senate (presiding)3:20:32

     Motion to circle sponsors off the floor. All in favor of the motion to circle, say aye. Aye. Any opposed or rule that passes That bill is circled. Okay. That finishes everything on the concurrence calendar. Now we'll go to, uh, motions to encircle bills.

• Mar 6, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (15 turns)

  1. Floor clerk1:01:42

     Senate Bill 3 23 Criminal and Juvenile Justice re codification by Senator Weiler. This bill was heard in Business and Labor with a vote of 11 0 5. The House sponsors Representative Libe. Representative Libe.

  2. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee1:01:56

     Thank you Mr. Speaker.

  3. Speaker (presiding)1:01:58

     A motion to adopt house amendment? One Motion is to adopt house amendment number two. Would you like to speak to that?

  4. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee1:02:06

     Yes. This is just a technical cleanup requested by the drafters.

  5. Speaker (presiding)1:02:13

     Motion is to to adopt second substitute house Bill 3 23. Is it a sub or an amendment?

  6. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee1:02:24

     It's an amendment House. Amendment two in my name. Alright,

  7. Speaker (presiding)1:02:27

     We're looking for it up here. Give us a second. Been online Representative Libe. How long has that been out? Been public.

  8. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee1:02:42

     Um, Oh, we got it. We found it. Okay. Alright.

  9. Speaker (presiding)1:02:45

     Motion is to amend the second amendment in. Representative Lim Bee's name first substitute 3 23. Any discussion to the amendment? Seeing none. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The bill is amended. Representative Libe. Thank

  10. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee1:03:03

      You Mr. Speaker. So this is a really important bill. Currently, the CCJJ sentencing Commission, all of the different, uh, departments within, or programs within criminal justice under the executive branch are, um, disorganized. There's no real reporting structure. And so what this does, it establishes a new Department of Criminal Justice in Title 75 E. Um, and it includes a commissioner and two deputy commissioners so that there's improved chain of, of command and oversight and accountability. It also consolidates the existing programs into a single structure. Under that leadership structure, it enhances oversight of the commissions, legislative processes, agency operations and licenses, or excuse me, finance. And it does all of this without a fiscal impact. So there's zero fiscal impact from this restructure. And with that, I'm open to questions.

  11. Speaker (presiding)1:04:10

      Thank you, representative. Is there any discussion to the bill? Seeing none. Back to you,

  12. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee1:04:15

      representative Libe for summation. I'll Waive. Thank you.

  13. Speaker (presiding)1:04:17

      Summation is waived. The vote will be open on first substitute 3 23 as amended vote quickly. Representatives all president have voted, the vote will be closed. First substitute. Oh, wait, wait. Representative Schultz.

  14. Rep. Mike Schultz1:05:13speaker not certain

      Speaker Schultz pass a

  15. Speaker (presiding)1:05:22

      Alright, seeing all President have voted, the vote will be closed. First substitute house Senate bill 3 23. As amended passes this body with 62 yays in one nay and will be sent to the Senate for further consideration.