Senate Bill 117, a bill revolving around domestic violence, has passed the Utah State Legislature.
Sponsored by Sen. Todd Weiler, the bill unanimously passed the House of Representatives. The bill will require all of UTah’s police agencies to conduct “lethality assessments” when it comes to domestic violence situations. These lethality assessments are a series of questions used to determine whether someone is at risk of being murdered in a domestic violence situation.
Furthermore, the bill will also increase tracking of domestic violence calls so police know what they’re responding to.
The bill has been supported heavily by families of high-profile murder victims including Gabby Petito’s family, who flew to Utah to witness the bill being passed in the Senate. The family of Mandy Mayne, who was killed in a murder-suicide at a Taylorsville bus stop, was also in the gallery for the House vote.
Aside from the bill, $24 million in funding has been approved by the legislature to expand domestic violence services throughout the state of Utah.
