SB0259 • 2026

Evidence Declaration Amendments

Crime

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: Sen. Weiler, Todd
Last action: 2026-03-06
Official status: Senate/ filed
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.

Evidence Declaration Amendments

This bill requires a signed statement regarding evidence collected in a criminal case for a felony offense.

What This Bill Does

This bill requires a signed statement regarding evidence collected in a criminal case for a felony offense.

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.

Bill History

2026-03-06 Senate file for bills not passed
Senate/ filed
2026-03-06 Senate Secretary
Senate/ strike enacting clause
2026-03-05 Senate Rules Committee
Senate/ comm rpt/ sent to Rules/ substituted/amend
2026-03-04 Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee
Senate Comm - Recommends Returned to Rules
2026-02-25 Released
LFA/ fiscal note publicly available for SB0259S01
2026-02-23 Version Sponsor
LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for SB0259S01
2026-02-20 Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee
Senate Comm - Amendment Recommendation
2026-02-20 Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee
Senate Comm - Motion to Recommend Failed
2026-02-20 Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee
Senate Comm - Substitute Recommendation
2026-02-18 Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee
Senate Comm - Not Considered
2026-02-17 Legislative Fiscal Analyst
LFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for SB0259S01
2026-02-17 Legislative Fiscal Agency
LFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for SB0259S01
2026-02-17 Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee
Senate Comm - Not Considered
2026-02-17 Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee
Senate/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst
2026-02-13 Released
LFA/ fiscal note publicly available for SB0259
2026-02-12 Version Sponsor
LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for SB0259
2026-02-06 Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee
Senate/ to standing committee
2026-02-05 Legislative Research and General Counsel
Bill Numbered but not Distributed
2026-02-05 Legislative Fiscal Analyst
LFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for SB0259
2026-02-05 Legislative Fiscal Agency
LFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for SB0259
2026-02-05 Legislative Research and General Counsel
Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed
2026-02-05 Senate Rules Committee
Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
2026-02-05 Waiting for Introduction in the Senate
Senate/ received bill from Legislative Research

Official Summary Text

This bill requires a signed statement regarding evidence collected in a criminal case for a felony offense.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

3
77-4-202
0
Evidence Declaration Amendments
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Todd Weiler
House Sponsor:
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill requires a signed statement regarding evidence collected in a criminal case for a
felony offense.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
defines terms;
requires certain individuals to sign a statement that evidence of a felony offense was
obtained or provided in compliance with state and federal law;
requires a prosecuting attorney to sign a statement regarding evidentiary disclosures in a
criminal case for a felony offense; and
makes it a crime to fail to comply with the requirements of a signed statement.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
ENACTS:
77-4-202
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section
77-4-202
is enacted to read:
77-4-202
. Declaration requirement for evidence in a criminal case.
(1)
As used in this section:
(a)
"Auditor" means an employee or officer of the Office of the State Auditor.
(b)
"Investigator" means an employee of a prosecuting agency that conducts
investigations on behalf of the prosecuting agency.
(c)
"Unsworn declaration" means the same as that term is defined in Section
78B-18a-102
.
(2)
If an auditor or investigator provides or obtains evidence in a criminal case that will be
used to prosecute an individual for a felony offense, the auditor or investigator shall sign
a statement attesting that the evidence was obtained or provided in compliance with state
and federal law.
(3)
When a prosecuting attorney discloses evidence to a defendant in a criminal case for a
felony offense, the prosecuting attorney shall sign a statement attesting that the
prosecuting attorney has complied with state and federal laws on the disclosure of
exculpatory evidence to a defendant, including Rule 16 of the Utah Rules of Criminal
Procedure.
(4)
A signed statement described in Subsection
(2)
or
(3)
shall include an unsworn
declaration.
(5)
An individual who fails to comply with Subsection
(2)
or
(3)
is guilty of a class A
misdemeanor.
Section 2.
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on
May 6, 2026
.
2-17-26 7:25 AM