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House approves requiring brand inspectors to notify owners before federal livestock seizures
Summary
The House passed House Bill 72 unanimously to require brand inspectors to contact livestock owners before federal seizure actions, aiming to preserve due process after past incidents where cattle were sold without owner notice.
The Utah House of Representatives on the morning calendar passed House Bill 72, a bill that would require brand inspectors to contact owners before cattle seized on federal lands are moved or sold.
Representative Michael Noel, sponsor of the bill, told colleagues that a prior incident in King County involved cattle gathered and moved without adequate notice to owners, and that the current bill corrects that gap by requiring brand inspectors to attempt owner contact and allow owner involvement in the process. "We had a situation... where the federal government was gonna sell the cattle without the knowledge of the owner," Noel said, urging support for due process protections. He said the Department of Agriculture and the state brand inspector support the change and that the bill passed his committee unanimously.
There was no further floor debate, the sponsor waived summation and voting opened. The clerk announced that House Bill 72 received 72 yes votes and 0 no votes and will be transmitted to the Senate for further consideration.
The House placed the bill on the second-reading/third-reading calendar per standard procedure.
Next steps: HB 72 will go to the Senate for consideration under the Legislature’s usual referral process.
