2023 Utah Legislation Report
Out of hundreds of criminal justice bills proposed this year, our staff identified 132 that fit into the project categories.
Bills can include multiple provisions. To avoid misrepresenting the total number of bills introduced, each bill in this project was assigned to only one category.
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Bills under this category sought to establish new criminal offenses. Out of 22 introduced, 11 passed and became law.
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Bills under this category sought to repeal existing criminal offenses. This session, three were introduced but none passed.
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Bills under this category sought to enhance the severity or number of penalties associated with an existing criminal offense. Out of 10 introduced, 6 passed and became law.
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Bills under this category sought to reduce the severity or number of penalties associated with an existing criminal offense. Out of 11 introduced, 8 passed.
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Bills under this category sought to expand the applicability of existing criminal offenses so that they apply to more people. Out of 16 introduced, 10 passed and became law.
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Bills under this category sought to narrow the applicability of existing criminal offenses so that they apply to fewer people. Out of 2 introduced, 1 passed.
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Bills in this category weaken defendant rights in court proceedings. Out of 32 introduced this session, 18 passed.
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Bills in this category strengthen defendant rights in court proceedings. Out of 35 introduced, 18 passed.
Our staff broke down new penalties by offense level and type.