House committee adopts substitute aligning pardons and registry-removal timelines, tightens parole review

Representative Brent Clancy presented the second substitute to House Bill 110, saying the measure was the product of stakeholder work including the Board of Pardons and Parole and prosecutors. The substitute allows the Department of Corrections to supervise people convicted of Class B misdemeanors when appropriate and asks the board to review the facts of any new arrests for parolees rather than relying solely on the label of a new charge.

"This allows the Department of Corrections to supervise individuals who have been convicted of class B misdemeanors," Representative Clancy said, explaining the change would permit short, structured probation where appropriate. He added the substitute requires the Board of Pardons and Parole, before reparoling an offender, to find by "clear and convincing evidence" that the person no longer poses a threat to public safety.

Britney Carson, director of public outreach and transparency for the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole, told the committee the agency has been working with the Department of Corrections and the attorney general's office to improve parole-violation processes and victim-notification tools. "We are currently working on an administrative rule that will allow us to provide summaries of victim of record victim impact statements to the offenders so that we can be both in compliance with state statute," Carson said.

Victim advocates also spoke. Deandra Brown, who identified herself as a victim of intrafamilial sexual abuse, told the committee victims sometimes feel "their victim impact statements are in the hands of the offender" and said some language addressing victim protections had been removed from the substitute; Clancy acknowledged the concern and said the board and interim study could address case-law constraints.

Prosecutors and statewide associations signaled support for the substitute as written. Carl Holland, executive director of the Statewide Association of Prosecutors, thanked the sponsor for addressing prosecutorial concerns and urged the committee to support the substitute.

The committee adopted the second substitute and then voted to favorably recommend HB110 with the substitute to the House. Both the substitute-adoption motion and the favorable recommendation passed unanimously.