Law Enforcement Quota Amendments

4
63M-7-204
77-7-27
0
Law Enforcement Quota Amendments
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Todd Weiler
House Sponsor: Ryan D. Wilcox
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill concerns impermissible law enforcement quotas.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
defines terms;
requires the State Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice to collect reports of
alleged violations of the impermissible law enforcement quota prohibition and annually
report the data to the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee;
prohibits a political subdivision or law enforcement agency from:
requiring or directing a peace officer to meet an impermissible quota; or
transferring, promoting, disciplining, or taking other actions against a peace officer for
reasons relating to an impermissible quota; and
makes technical and conforming changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
63M-7-204
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2025, Chapters 51, 135, 252, 494, and 510
77-7-27
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2018, Chapter 289
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section
63M-7-204
is amended to read:
63M-7-204
. Duties of commission.
(1)
The commission shall:
(a)
promote the commission's purposes as enumerated in Section
63M-7-201
;
(b)
promote the communication and coordination of all criminal and juvenile justice
agencies;
(c)
study, evaluate, and report on the status of crime in the state and on the effectiveness
of criminal justice policies, procedures, and programs that are directed toward the
reduction of crime in the state;
(d)
study, evaluate, and report on programs initiated by state and local agencies to
address reducing recidivism, including changes in penalties and sentencing
guidelines intended to reduce recidivism, costs savings associated with the reduction
in the number of inmates, and evaluation of expenses and resources needed to meet
goals regarding the use of treatment as an alternative to incarceration, as resources
allow;
(e)
study, evaluate, and report on policies, procedures, and programs of other
jurisdictions
which
that
have effectively reduced crime;
(f)
identify and promote the implementation of specific policies and programs the
commission determines will significantly reduce crime in Utah;
(g)
provide analysis and recommendations on all criminal and juvenile justice
legislation, state budget, and facility requests, including program and fiscal impact on
all components of the criminal and juvenile justice system;
(h)
provide analysis, accountability, recommendations, and supervision for state and
federal criminal justice grant money;
(i)
provide public information on the criminal and juvenile justice system and give
technical assistance to agencies or local units of government on methods to promote
public awareness;
(j)
promote research and program evaluation as an integral part of the criminal and
juvenile justice system;
(k)
provide a comprehensive criminal justice plan annually;
(l)
review agency forecasts regarding future demands on the criminal and juvenile
justice systems, including specific projections for secure bed space;
(m)
promote the development of criminal and juvenile justice information systems that
are consistent with common standards for data storage and are capable of
appropriately sharing information with other criminal justice information systems by:
(i)
developing and maintaining common data standards for use by all state criminal
justice agencies;
(ii)
annually performing audits of criminal history record information maintained by
state criminal justice agencies to assess their accuracy, completeness, and
adherence to standards;
(iii)
defining and developing state and local programs and projects associated with
the improvement of information management for law enforcement and the
administration of justice; and
(iv)
establishing general policies concerning criminal and juvenile justice information
systems and making rules as necessary to carry out the duties under Subsection
(1)(k)
and this Subsection
(1)(m)
;
(n)
allocate and administer grants, from money made available, for approved education
programs to help prevent the sexual exploitation of children;
(o)
allocate and administer grants for law enforcement operations and programs related
to reducing illegal drug activity and related criminal activity;
(p)
request, receive, and evaluate data and recommendations collected and reported by:
(i)
agencies and contractors related to policies recommended by the commission
regarding recidivism reduction, including the data described in Section
13-53-111

and Subsection
26B-5-102(2)(jj)
; and
(ii)
state agencies under Section
67-28-102
;
(q)
establish and administer a performance incentive grant program that allocates funds
appropriated by the Legislature to programs and practices implemented by counties
that reduce recidivism and reduce the number of offenders per capita who are
incarcerated;
(r)
oversee or designate an entity to oversee the implementation of juvenile justice
reforms;
(s)
make rules and administer the juvenile holding room standards and juvenile jail
standards to align with the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
requirements pursuant to
42 U.S.C. Sec. 5633
34 U.S.C. Sec. 11133
;
(t)
allocate and administer grants, from money made available, for pilot qualifying
education programs;
(u)
request, receive, and evaluate the aggregate data collected from prosecutorial
agencies and the Administrative Office of the Courts, in accordance with Sections
63M-7-216
,
63M-7-216.1
, and
78A-2-109.5
;
(v)
report annually to the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee on
the progress made on each of the following goals of the Justice Reinvestment
Initiative:
(i)
ensuring oversight and accountability;
(ii)
supporting local corrections systems;
(iii)
improving and expanding reentry and treatment services; and
(iv)
strengthening probation and parole supervision;
(w)
compile a report of findings based on the data and recommendations provided under
Section
13-53-111
that

separates the data provided under Section
13-53-111
by each
residential vocational or life skills program;
(x)
publish the report described in Subsection
(1)(w)
on the commission's website and
annually provide the report to the Judiciary Interim Committee, the Health and
Human Services Interim Committee, the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice
Interim Committee, and the related appropriations subcommittees;
(y)
receive, compile, and publish on the commission's website the data provided under:
(i)
Section
53-25-202
;
(ii)
Section
53-25-301
; and
(iii)
Section
53-25-401
;
(z)
review, research, advise, and make recommendations to the three branches of
government regarding evidence-based sex offense management policies and
practices, including supervision standards, treatment standards, and the sex offender
registry;
(aa)
receive and evaluate a referral from the Department of Public Safety received under
Section
53-21-104.3
involving a denial of mental health resources to an eligible
individual, including, if appropriate in the commission's discretion, deny the relevant
entity from receiving any grant of state funds under Section
63M-7-218
for a
specified period of time;
and
(bb)
receive, compile, and annually submit a report to the Law Enforcement and
Criminal Justice Interim Committee of alleged violations of the impermissible law
enforcement quota prohibition under Subsection
77-7-27(4)
; and
(bb)
(cc)
accept public comment.
(2)
(a)
The commission may designate an entity to perform the duties described in this
part.
(b)
If the commission designates an entity under Subsection
(2)(a)
, the commission shall
ensure that the membership of the designated entity includes representation from
relevant stakeholder groups from the parts of the justice system implicated in the
policy area.
(3)
In fulfilling the commission's duties under Subsection
(1)
, the commission may seek
input and request assistance from groups with knowledge and expertise in criminal
justice, including other boards and commissions affiliated or housed within the
commission.
Section 2. Section
77-7-27
is amended to read:
77-7-27
. Quotas for arrest, citation prohibited.
(1)
As used in this section:
(a)
(i)
"Impermissible quota" means a requirement or minimum standard regarding the
number or percentage of citations made by a law enforcement officer.
(ii)
"Impermissible quota" does not include targeted overtime shifts for which a law
enforcement agency receives grant money or other reimbursement.
(b)
"Law enforcement agency" means an entity of the state, or a political subdivision of
the state, that exists primarily to prevent and detect crime and enforce criminal laws,
statutes, or ordinances.
(b)
"Law enforcement quota" means any requirement or minimum standard regarding
the number or percentage of citations or arrests made by a law enforcement officer.
(2)
A political subdivision or law enforcement agency employing a peace officer may not
:

(a)
require or direct that a peace officer meet
a law enforcement
an impermissible
quota
.
;
(b)
evaluate, promote, compensate, reward, or discipline a peace officer on the basis of
an impermissible quota; or
(c)
transfer a peace officer's employment assignment on the basis of an impermissible
quota.
(3)
Subsection
(2)
does not prohibit a political subdivision or law enforcement agency from
including a peace officer's engagement with the community or enforcement activity
,
including a metric based on the peace officer's interactions with members of the
community,
as part of an overall determination of the peace officer's performance.
(4)
A person may report an alleged violation of this section to the State Commission on
Criminal and Juvenile Justice.
Section 3.
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on
May 6, 2026
.
1-2-26 3:46 PM