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SB26-120 • 2026

Missing Person Training & Higher Education Reporting

The act requires a person seeking certification or recertification from the peace officers standards and training board to undergo training on various missing person alerts active within the state. Th

Education Housing Taxes
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Sen. J. Marchman, Sen. K. Wallace, Rep. B. Bradley, Rep. Y. Zokaie, Sen. J. Amabile, Sen. M. Ball, Sen. A. Benavidez, Sen. J. Bridges, Sen. S. Bright, Sen. J. Coleman, Sen. L. Cutter, Sen. J. Danielson, Sen. L. Daugherty, Sen. L. Frizell, Sen. J. Gonzales, Sen. N. Hinrichsen, Sen. I. Jodeh, Sen. C. Kipp, Sen. B. Kirkmeyer, Sen. C. Kolker, Sen. W. Lindstedt, Sen. K. Mullica, Sen. R. Pelton, Sen. D. Roberts, Sen. R. Rodriguez, Sen. C. Simpson, Sen. M. Snyder, Sen. T. Sullivan, Sen. M. Weissman, Rep. J. Bacon, Rep. S. Camacho, Rep. C. Clifford, Rep. R. English, Rep. J. Jackson, Rep. J. Joseph, Rep. R. Keltie, Rep. M. Lindsay, Rep. M. Lukens, Rep. M. Martinez, Rep. T. Mauro, Rep. K. Nguyen, Rep. M. Rutinel, Rep. K. Stewart, Rep. J. Willford
Last action
2026-05-26
Official status
Governor Signed
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Missing Person Training & Higher Education Reporting

The act requires a person seeking certification or recertification from the peace officers standards and training board to undergo training on various missing person alerts active within the state.

What This Bill Does

  • The act requires a person seeking certification or recertification from the peace officers standards and training board to undergo training on various missing person alerts active within the state.
  • The department of public safety is required to create a missing person alert training program for persons seeking certification or recertification of their peace officer status.
  • The act requires an institution of higher education (institution) to either conduct a preliminary wellness assessment for no longer than 6 hours or immediately contact a law enforcement agency if a student is reported missing.
  • If the student is not found within the 6-hour period, or if there is evidence of a credible risk to the student's safety, the institution shall notify the institution's police department or the nearest law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the student's current local address on file with the institution or the student's permanent address on file with the institution if the institution does not have its own police department.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

L.001

SEN Judiciary

Passed [*]

Plain English: SB120_L.001 SENATE COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE AMENDMENT Committee on Judiciary.

  • SB120_L.001 SENATE COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE AMENDMENT Committee on Judiciary.
  • SB26-120 be amended as follows: 1 Amend printed bill, page 2, line 11, strike "OF PUBLIC SAFETY".
  • 2 Page 2, line 20, after "EXPIRED." add "THE DEPARTMENT IS NOT REQUIRED 3 TO DELIVER OR ADMINISTER THE TRAINING REQUIRED PURSUANT TO THIS 4 SECTION.".
  • 5 Page 3, line 13, before "definitions." insert "rules -".
L.002

SEN Judiciary

Passed [*]

Plain English: SB120_L.002 SENATE COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE AMENDMENT Committee on Judiciary.

  • SB120_L.002 SENATE COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE AMENDMENT Committee on Judiciary.
  • SB26-120 be amended as follows: 1 Amend proposed committee amendment (SB120_L.001), page 1, line 30, 2 strike "VERIFICATION;" and substitute "VERIFICATION, IF THE INSTITUTION 3 HAS INSTITUTION-CONTROLLED HOUSING;".
  • ** *** ** *** ** LLS: Owen Hatch x2698
L.003

Second Reading

Passed [**]

Plain English: SB120_L.003 Amendment No.

  • SB120_L.003 Amendment No.
  • ___________ SB26-120 SENATE FLOOR AMENDMENT Second Reading BY SENATOR Marchman 1 Amend the Judiciary Committee Report, dated March 4, 2026, page 2, 2 line 17, strike "THE DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION".
  • 3 Page 2 of the report, strike lines 18 and 19.
  • 4 Page 2 of the report, line 43, strike "INSTITUTION OR ADOPTED BY THE 5 DEPARTMENT OF".
L.004

Second Reading

Passed [**]

Plain English: SB120_L.004 Amendment No.

  • SB120_L.004 Amendment No.
  • ___________ SB26-120 SENATE FLOOR AMENDMENT Second Reading BY SENATOR Marchman 1 Amend printed bill, page 3, line 16, strike "INSTITUTION" and substitute 2 "INSTITUTION, WHO WAS LAST KNOWN TO RESIDE IN THE STATE,".
  • 3 Page 3, line 17, strike "MAY CONDUCT A".
  • 4 Page 3, strike line 18 and substitute "SHALL EITHER IMMEDIATELY NOTIFY 5 LAW ENFORCEMENT PURSUANT TO SUBSECTION (5)(b) OF THIS SECTION 6 WITHOUT CONDUCTING A PRELIMINARY WELLNESS ASSESSMENT OR 7 CONDUCT A PRELIMINARY WELLNESS ASSESSMENT PURSUANT TO 8 SUBSECTION (5)(d) OF THIS SECTION AND DOCUMENT THE INFORMATION 9 DESCRIBED IN SUBSECTION (5)(f) OF THIS SECTION.".
L.005

Second Reading

Passed [**]

Plain English: SB120_L.005 Amendment No.

  • SB120_L.005 Amendment No.
  • ___________ SB26-120 SENATE FLOOR AMENDMENT Second Reading BY SENATOR Marchman 1 Amend the Judiciary Committee Report, dated March 4, 2026, page 4, 2 lines 5 and 6, strike "ATTENDANCE OR SOCIAL INTERACTION SUBJECT TO" 3 and substitute "ATTENDANCE, LIMITED TO INFORMATION REASONABLY 4 NECESSARY TO DETERMINE THE STUDENT'S LOCATION, CONSISTENT WITH".
  • 5 Page 4, line 22, strike "EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM." and 6 substitute "ANY PERSONAL CONTACT INFORMATION THE STUDENT HAS 7 PROVIDED TO THE INSTITUTION FOR EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION 8 PURPOSES.".
  • 9 Page 4, line 28, strike "COLLEGE;" and substitute "COLLEGE, AS DEFINED 10 IN SECTION 23-71-102 (1)(a);".
L.007

Second Reading

Passed [**]

Plain English: SB120_L.007 Amendment No.

  • SB120_L.007 Amendment No.
  • ___________ SB26-120 SENATE FLOOR AMENDMENT Second Reading BY SENATOR Marchman 1 Amend the Judiciary Committee Report, dated March 4, 2026, page 2, 2 line 9, after "HOUSING;" insert "AND".
  • 3 Page 2, line 10, strike "INQUIRY; AND" and substitute "INQUIRY.".
  • 4 Page 2, strike line 11 and substitute: 5 "(II) IF AN INSTITUTION CONDUCTS A PRELIMINARY WELLNESS 6 ASSESSMENT PURSUANT TO THIS SUBSECTION (5) AND DOES NOT LOCATE 7 THE STUDENT WITHIN SIX HOURS, THE INSTITUTION MUST CONDUCT AN 8 EMERGENCY CONTACT ATTEMPT.".
L.008

Second Reading

Lost [**]

Plain English: SB120_L.008 Amendment No.

  • SB120_L.008 Amendment No.
  • ___________ SB26-120 HOUSE FLOOR AMENDMENT Second Reading BY REPRESENTATIVE Johnson 1 Amend reengrossed bill, page 3, line 27, strike "SIX" and substitute 2 "EIGHT".
  • 3 Page 4, line 1, strike "SIX-HOUR" and substitute "EIGHT-HOUR".
  • 4 Page 5, line 15, strike "SIX" and substitute "EIGHT".

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-26 Governor

    Governor Signed

  2. 2026-05-05 Governor

    Sent to the Governor

  3. 2026-05-05 House

    Signed by the Speaker of the House

  4. 2026-05-04 Senate

    Signed by the President of the Senate

  5. 2026-04-27 House

    House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments

  6. 2026-04-24 House

    House Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments

  7. 2026-03-31 House

    House Second Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments

  8. 2026-03-26 House

    House Committee on State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Refer Unamended to House Committee of the Whole

  9. 2026-03-16 House

    Introduced In House - Assigned to State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs

  10. 2026-03-16 Senate

    Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments

  11. 2026-03-13 Senate

    Senate Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Committee, Floor

  12. 2026-03-12 Senate

    Senate Second Reading Laid Over to 03/13/2026 - No Amendments

  13. 2026-03-10 Senate

    Senate Second Reading Laid Over to 03/12/2026 - No Amendments

  14. 2026-03-09 Senate

    Senate Second Reading Laid Over to 03/10/2026 - No Amendments

  15. 2026-03-04 Senate

    Senate Committee on Judiciary Refer Amended to Senate Committee of the Whole

  16. 2026-02-23 Senate

    Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Judiciary

Official Summary Text

The act requires a person seeking certification or recertification from the peace officers standards and training board to undergo training on various missing person alerts active within the state. The department of public safety is required to create a missing person alert training program for persons seeking certification or recertification of their peace officer status.
The act requires an institution of higher education (institution) to either conduct a preliminary wellness assessment for no longer than 6 hours or immediately contact a law enforcement agency if a student is reported missing. If the student is not found within the 6-hour period, or if there is evidence of a credible risk to the student's safety, the institution shall notify the institution's police department or the nearest law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the student's current local address on file with the institution or the student's permanent address on file with the institution if the institution does not have its own police department.
An institution is required to adopt and publish a preliminary wellness assessment policy. The preliminary wellness assessment must consist of at least the following steps: A digital contact attempt, a residential verification, and an academic and social inquiry. An institution that conducts a preliminary wellness assessment is immune from civil liability if the institution acted in good faith. An institution is required to maintain contemporaneous written documentation regarding the steps the institution took to complete the preliminary wellness assessment. The records are subject to certain disclosure requirements.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)