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Wednesday, November 4, 2026

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Utah bill tracker

H.B. 459: Sexual Offense Evidence and Reporting Procedures Amendments

2026 General Session · Originating chamber: House

Saved official records and Ledger coverage. The outcome below is from the Legislature’s own step list.

What the bill does

Did not pass both chambers; the bill was filed on March 6, 2026.

This bill amends evidence and reporting procedures that occur after a sexual offense is committed.

  • Defines terms
  • Amends injury reporting requirements for a health care provider for certain sexual offenses
  • Allows certain victims of a sexual offense the option of: receiving medical treatment, without any report of the sexual offense to law enforcement; with or without medical treatment, providing either a full report or a limited report of the sexual offense to law enforcement; allowing evidence collection for the sexual offense, including a sexual assault medical forensic examination that collects a sexual assault kit; and designating the sexual assault kit as either an unrestricted kit with full disclosure and processing or as a restricted kit that can either be stored without testing or subjected to limited testing
  • Requires limited victim information to be shared with law enforcement with a restricted kit
  • Requires that payment of costs for medical treatment and evidence collection for a victim of a sexual offense be the same regardless of whether the victim opts to make a full or limited report to law enforcement or if the victim opts only for medical treatment without reporting the sexual offense to law enforcement
  • Requires the Bureau of Forensic Services to conduct testing of certain restricted kits
  • Requires the Department of Public Safety's statewide sexual assault kit tracking system to provide limited access to a victim who has submitted a restricted kit for forensic testing to track the kit's processing status
  • Establishes procedures for contacting a victim through a victim advocate to request the victim's consent to certain disclosures if a law enforcement agency determines that: there may be a serial sexual offender in a particular area; and evidence in the victim's restricted kit may provide relevant evidence in the investigation
  • Revises and reorganizes statutory procedures and requirements that occur after certain sexual offenses are committed
  • Amends provisions to provide for a reparations award for a victim of a sexual assault under certain circumstances
  • Amends the definition of "sexual offense" for certain sexual offense procedures and victim rights provisions
  • Inserts the former definition of "sexual offense" into statutes that had relied on the definition of "sexual offense" that this bill amends
  • Makes technical and conforming changes

The description and list come from the bill's own long title as recorded by the Legislature. Read the official bill. The Ledger takes no position on it.

Subjects: Health and Human Services · Health Care Professionals · Crimes · Sexual Offenses · Public Safety · Department of Public Safety · Victims · Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice

How it moved

  1. · House1st reading (Introduced)Rules Committee
  2. · Houseto standing committeeLaw Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee
  3. · HouseHouse Comm - Recommends Returned to RulesLaw Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee
  4. · Housefiledfile for bills not passed

Steps as the Legislature recorded them; clerical and fiscal-staff entries are left out. Numbers such as 54-14-7 are yeas, nays and absent.

Fiscal note

The Legislative Fiscal Analyst's note on 1st Sub. H.B. 459 (Buff) found no material cost or revenue effect for the state, local governments or businesses.

Bill overview

Sponsor: Tyler Clancy

Legislature passed-list status: Not available in the saved metadata.

Passed-list membership is not a finding that a bill was signed or took effect. A bill absent from that list is not necessarily pending or defeated.

Latest recorded action

filed
Action date:

The full step list is above. Find the bill in the official session list for status, hearings and committee records.

Recorded floor votes

No floor-vote records for this bill and session are available here. This does not mean no vote occurred; consult the official bill record.

Ledger coverage

No Ledger stories with an explicit source link to this bill and session are listed here.