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3
64-13-48
0
Inmate Financial Literacy Amendments
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Stephanie Pitcher
House Sponsor: Jill Koford
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill requires the Department of Corrections to provide an optional financial literacy
class for inmates.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
requires the Department of Corrections to provide an optional financial literacy class for
inmates; and
makes technical and conforming changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
64-13-48
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2024, Chapter 310
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section
64-13-48
is amended to read:
64-13-48
. Educational and career-readiness programs.
(1)
The department shall, in accordance with Subsection
64-13-6
(1)(c), ensure that
appropriate evidence-based and evidence-informed educational or career-readiness
programs are made available to an inmate as soon as practicable after the creation of the
inmate's case action plan.
(2)
The department shall provide incarcerated women with substantially equivalent
educational and career-readiness opportunities as incarcerated men.
(3)
Before an inmate begins an educational or career-readiness program, the department
shall provide reasonable access to resources necessary for an inmate to apply for grants
or other available financial aid that may be available to pay for the inmate's program.
(4)
(a)
The department shall consider an inmate's current participation in an educational
or career-readiness program when the department makes a decision with regard to an
inmate's:
(i)
transfer to another area or facility; or
(ii)
appropriate disciplinary sanction.
(b)
When possible, the department shall use best efforts to allow an inmate to continue
the inmate's participation in an educational or career-readiness program while the
facility is under lockdown, quarantine, or a similar status.
(5)
(a)
The department shall maintain records on an inmate's educational progress,
including completed life skills, certifications, and credit- and non-credit-bearing
courses, made while the inmate is incarcerated.
(b)
The department shall facilitate the transfer of information related to the inmate's
educational process upon the inmate's release, including the inmate's post-release
contact information and the records described in Subsection
(5)(a)
, to:
(i)
the inmate; or
(ii)
an entity that the inmate has authorized to receive the inmate's records or
post-release contact information, including an institution:
(A)
from which the inmate received educational instruction while the inmate was
incarcerated; or
(B)
at which the inmate plans to continue the inmate's post-incarceration
education.
(6)
Beginning May 1, 2023, the department shall provide an annual report to the Higher
Education Appropriations Subcommittee regarding educational and career-readiness
programs for inmates, which shall include:
(a)
the number of inmates who are participating in an educational or career-readiness
program, including an accredited postsecondary education program;
(b)
the percentage of inmates who are participating in an educational or career-readiness
program as compared to the total inmate population;
(c)
inmate program completion and graduation data, including the number of
completions and graduations in each educational or career-readiness program;
(d)
the potential effect of educational or career-readiness programs on recidivism, as
determined by a comparison of:
(i)
the total number of inmates who return to incarceration after a previous
incarceration; and
(ii)
the number of inmates who return to incarceration after a previous incarceration
who participated in or completed an educational or career-readiness program;
(e)
the number of inmates who were transferred to a different facility while currently
participating in an educational or career-readiness program, including the number of
inmates who were unable to continue a program after a transfer to a different facility;
and
(f)
the department's:
(i)
recommendation for resources that may increase inmates' access to and
participation in an educational or career-readiness program; and
(ii)
estimate of how many additional inmates would participate in an educational or
career-readiness program if the resources were provided.
(7)
The department shall:
(a)
ensure that an inmate enrolled in an educational or career-readiness program has
access to modern technology determined by the provider of the program as necessary
for an inmate to participate in the program; and
(b)
assist an inmate in applying for jobs within 30 days before the day on which the
inmate is released from the department's custody.
(8)
The department may not offer training for an inmate to become a certified nursing
assistant certified by the Department of Health and Human Services.
(9)
(a)
The department shall provide inmates with the opportunity to take a financial
literacy class.
(b)
The financial literacy class described in Subsection
(9)(a)
shall include instruction on
strategies for saving and managing money earned through employment, including
any employment during incarceration.
(9)
(10)
The department may make rules in accordance with Section
64-13-10
and Title
63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, to carry out the provisions of this
section.
Section 2.
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on
May 6, 2026
.
1-7-26 10:50 AM