House amends, passes Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act focused on cross‑jurisdiction recovery

The Utah House voted to pass Senate Bill 35, the Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act, after adopting amendments that clarify judges’ authority and add protections for families wrongfully targeted by abusive filings. The bill passed the House as amended 63-0 and is referred to the Senate for further consideration.

Representative Wyatt described the bill's aim as filling gaps in current law for both international and interstate abductions, noting the statute's interplay with Hague Convention remedies in international cases and its limited but critical application in domestic cross‑jurisdiction abductions. "This uniform bill sets out all the criteria...the types of orders the judges can make, an ex parte order if it's essential, and the immediately following hearings," Wyatt said.

Representative Hutchings offered and won an amendment to provide that if a court finds a petitioner sought emergency remedies maliciously — for example, as a tool of harassment — the harmed party can recover attorneys’ fees and expenses. "If it was done maliciously...they can get those expenses back as well," Hutchings said during floor debate.

Sponsors said the bill clarifies procedures for ex parte orders, immediate hearings, and standards for relief so that judges have a uniform statutory framework in these rare but traumatic cases. Supporters described the measure as modeled on work by a uniform‑law drafting committee and on steps taken in other states. The House sent the amended bill to the Senate for the president’s signature and further action.