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Utah House approves standard visitation guidelines aimed at consistency for divorcing parents
Summary
The House passed Substitute House Bill 32 after debate, establishing nonmandatory statutory visitation guidelines and removing a retroactivity clause that would have created a $130,000 fiscal impact; the measure passed 66–4 and will move to the Senate.
The Utah House of Representatives on the floor moved to standardize judge-recommended visitation schedules for divorcing parents, passing Substitute House Bill 32 by a vote of 66–4. The sponsor said the bill provides judges with nonbinding guidelines intended to promote consistency across districts and protect children’s schooling and routines.
Sponsor Representative M. Wattup, presenting the substitute, said the task force that drafted the bill included judges and attorneys and that the substitute removed a retroactivity provision that had produced a $130,000 fiscal note from the judiciary: "We have taken this out in the substitute bill," the sponsor said, adding that without retroactivity "the fiscal note... indicates that it can be handled under the current budgets." The sponsor emphasized the bill is guidance, not a mandate: it "sets up standard visitation schedules" to be used when parents cannot agree.
Members asked whether the bill unduly intrudes on the judiciary. Representative Bush asked if the Legislature was "getting into the judicial process by legislating what the judges are supposed to do." The sponsor responded that judges sat on the task force and that the bill adopts practices already in use in some district courts, and that the provision allowing judges to apply "any other criteria the court determines relevant to the best interest of the child" preserves judicial discretion.
Lawmakers also raised enforcement and sanctions questions; the sponsor said sanctions for noncompliance are addressed in a companion Senate bill and that HB32 does not change existing decrees. Representative Olson clarified the bill applies only to future decrees, not retroactive modifications of existing divorce decrees: "This is for the initial divorce decree... This would just be for new ones to put in that into the decree." Several members described the bill as the product of bipartisan work by a child custody and divorce task force and urged support on grounds it would reduce forum-shopping among counties and provide a uniform starting point for judges.
The House recorded 66 affirmative votes and 4 negative votes on Substitute House Bill 32. The measure now goes to the Senate for further consideration.
The House left intact the option for parents to arrange their own agreements and for judges to deviate based on the best interests of a child. The sponsor pointed to the bill’s task-force origins and recommended follow-up on a companion sanctions measure in the Senate.
Next steps: HB32 will be transmitted to the Senate for consideration.
