House approves Children's Legal Defense Fund, raises court fees to create trust

The Utah House of Representatives on Feb. 20 passed House Bill 2 58, a measure to create a Children's Legal Defense Fund to pay for guardian-ad-litem and related mandatory educational programs for children in court proceedings. The bill passed the House 44–24 after floor amendments adopted the sponsor's changes to fees.

Sponsor Representative Kelly C. Atkinson said the bill establishes a dedicated trust fund so programs for children do not compete with other general-fund priorities. "What we're doing with these amendments is trying to bring the fees that will generate the funding to pay for the mandatory education courses, the guardian-ad-litem program that we're trying to establish," Atkinson said, summarizing the pink-sheet amendments dated Feb. 20, 1992. The floor amendments raised the divorce filing fee by $15 (from $77 to about $92), the marriage-license fee by $10 (from $30 to $40) and the certified birth-certificate fee by $1 (to $11).

Supporters argued the increases are modest, align with surrounding states and provide stable funding for programs that represent children in family-court matters. Representative James urged colleagues to support the bill, saying the resources are needed to ensure children are represented when parents' interests are at stake.

Opponents said the approach places a regressive burden on people at key life events. Representative Bradshaw asked whether the changes risk "making marriage and having babies too expensive." Representative Ellison, while sympathetic to the goal of helping children, said she opposed using a surcharge structure administered by the courts and questioned whether the judiciary is the appropriate administrator of the fund.

Fiscal questions accompanied the debate: members cited a fiscal note that projected a possible reduction in birth-certificate purchases and an estimated $86,000 annual shortfall tied to behavioral responses. Sponsors said they had negotiated language with the health department and that a separate court-fee bill (identified on the floor as SB 197) would influence total fee structures statewide; passage of that senate measure remained a companion dependency.

The House adopted the sponsor's pink-sheet amendments and passed HB 2 58 as amended, moving the bill to the Senate for further action. The final House vote was 44 in favor and 24 opposed. The bill's immediate next step is Senate consideration; implementation depends in part on coordination with other court-fee legislation in the Senate.