Courts and judges

This bill sets the base state budget for fiscal year 2027 for several criminal justice and public safety agencies, totaling about $1.35 billion.

The bill creates a court process to decide where an animal lawfully impounded in a pending animal cruelty case should be placed, such as with a shelter, rescue group, foster home, or through forfeiture.

H.B. 110 would change probation and parole supervision, adding stricter oversight for high-risk people convicted of Class B misdemeanors and new accountability rules for parole violations that take victims into account.

H.B. 134 raises the fee for Utah probationers or parolees who transfer supervision to another state from $50 to $90.

The bill makes it a crime, a class A misdemeanor, to secretly track someone's personal property, such as a backpack, clothing, or a bicycle, or to track a person through a built-in app, without consent.

The bill requires prosecutors who file charges against a judge, and the Administrative Office of the Courts in certain cases, to also send those complaints to the Judicial Conduct Commission.

The bill would let local governments create 'stay out of drug areas' where law enforcement can keep repeat offenders out of targeted public spaces with open drug markets.

This bill changes the procedures for court-ordered competency evaluations of criminal defendants without changing how the evaluations are done.

This bill moves several required public safety reports to the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ), which would collect, standardize, manage, and publish the data on a statewide public safety data portal.

The bill creates a new second-degree felony for intentionally encouraging suicide through coercion, with mandatory fines of at least $10,000 for that offense and $20,000 for first-degree sexual extortion.

The bill strengthens a 2011 Utah law that shields companies from lawsuits over carbon emissions, limiting such liability to parties not in full compliance with their permits.

The bill lets the state Office of Recovery Services keep collecting court-ordered spousal support after child support ends, within the original order's time limit.

The bill sets a process for removing non-lawyers who enter court appearances for others, and lets the Bar seek injunctions against unauthorized practice of law.

H.B. 280 would add commercial litigation funders to the state's registry, requiring them to register and file annual reports, which consumer funders already do.

H.B. 303 would set rules for court-ordered mental health therapy for children when parents disagree, including using insurance when available and considering ability to pay.

H.B. 307 would allow a court to award attorney fees against a party who files a frivolous motion in bad faith, not just a lawsuit, so that the bad faith fee statute applies to both.

H.B. 330 would let a business defend itself in a civil lawsuit by showing its conduct was authorized or required by a government permit, license, or government entity.

The bill requires the Department of Public Safety to run a location monitoring program, using ankle monitors paid for by the state, for registered sex offenders who do not give a residential address.

H.B. 419 expands the state's definition of environmental action so that certain permits issued by the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining can be challenged in court.

The bill changes Utah's capital felony case process, including how the Utah Supreme Court conducts automatic review, limits ineffective assistance claims to separate post-conviction cases, and expands and raises pay for post-conviction counsel.

The bill creates a Legal Services Retainer Fund where agencies deposit money to pay the Attorney General's office for legal work, with yearly amounts set in advance through agency and Attorney General meetings.

The bill would require court records to be easier for the public to get, through a website of public court records that sets fees for access.

H.B. 572 would fund a receiving center grant program, raise Collaborative Care Medicaid rates, continue a family outreach specialist at the Office of Medical Examiner, and add peer support and suicide prevention funding, along with changes to the Sequential Intercept model and civil commitment processes.

This joint resolution would amend Utah's rules of evidence so that machine-generated evidence is judged by the same reliability standards used for expert evidence.

This joint resolution would change two sets of Utah court rules for capital felony cases.

This House resolution would formally admonish and censure Judge Don M.

This bill adds about $454.7 million in supplemental spending to the state's 2026 fiscal year budget for various state agencies, and reduces general fund and income tax fund spending by $25.8 million.

This bill removes certain outdated or redundant reporting requirements that the law enforcement and criminal justice interim committee had been assigned.

This bill would require someone who finds a website not accessible to people with disabilities to notify the website owner first.

The bill sets rules for policy limit demand letters in motor vehicle injury claims, requiring the demand to include enough information and allow at least 30 days to respond.

The bill would abolish the common-law cause of action for alienation of affections, which lets a person sue someone, such as a spouse's sexual partner, for interfering with their marriage.

S.B. 134 would add two justices to the Utah Supreme Court and two judges to the Court of Appeals, along with law clerks, staff, and courtroom funding.

S.B. 142 clarifies that the 2024 private probation rule applies to both private probation businesses and individuals.

The bill moves constable licensing from county and city appointment to the state, placing it under the Department of Commerce's licensing division (DOPL) with state oversight and complaint procedures.

This bill would bar insurers from covering punitive damages or counting them when setting premiums for businesses.

S.B. 235 would set the governor's salary equal to the Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court's salary.

The bill would let the Judicial Council set up a statewide division within district court that handles most eviction and debt collection cases in a central location, often through commissioners rather than judges.

The bill waives civil court document filing fees for the state and its political subdivisions, and raises the Online Court Assistance Program filing surcharge from $20 to $60.

The bill lets a garnishee deduct the garnishment fee from the money it would otherwise send to the creditor, instead of paying the fee separately.

S.B. 310 would let a person sue someone who knowingly shares their private intimate image without consent, and would define what counts as an intimate image.

This joint resolution would change Utah's rules of evidence for adult sexual assault cases so that prior sexual assault allegations could be admitted in certain cases.

This resolution amends court rules on civil cases.

H.B. 149 would let victims of child sexual abuse material sue, for money damages under state law, people who publish or distribute that material.

H.B. 295 would change Utah's Good Samaritan overdose law so that a person who seeks help for an overdose, or is overdosing, can use an affirmative defense against a drug charge only if it is a first offense and they show proof of a substance abuse evaluation and any recommended treatment.

H.B. 476 changes Utah's insanity defense rules under the title Insanity Defense Amendments.

H.B. 553 would give dog bite victims four years instead of three to file a lawsuit, matching the deadline for most personal injury claims.

The bill changes Utah family law so courts must consider attorney fees and costs in more cases, including actions to establish or modify orders, not just enforcement.

For defendants who have prior convictions (not counting traffic offenses) and have been charged with multiple crimes within a set time window, this bill would require pretrial release to include a supervision or financial condition.

This bill amends two court rules.

This bill would raise the amount of a motor vehicle's value a person can protect from creditors, including in bankruptcy, from $3,000 to a higher amount.

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.

The bill would bar courts from letting juries hear evidence of insurance payments, discounts, write-offs, or other collateral benefits in personal injury and other civil tort cases, except medical malpractice cases.

S.B. 316 would let a public employee who is charged with a crime recover attorney fees if the employee is found not guilty or the case is dismissed at or after the preliminary hearing.

This joint resolution would change the court rules so the Supreme Court sets attorney licensing fees using the same standards other state agencies follow when setting their licensing fees.

This joint resolution would change court rules so that jury selection in felony cases must be held in person, unless the parties agree otherwise.