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House approves law prohibiting numeric ticket quotas after sharp floor debate
Summary
The House passed HB 255 to ban police administrators from directing officers to meet numeric citation quotas. Supporters said quotas produce selective enforcement; opponents warned the measure interrupts municipal management and supervisor‑subordinate relations. The bill passed 38–34–3.
House Bill 255, intended to prohibit law‑enforcement administrators from imposing numeric ticket quotas, passed the Utah House on Feb. 6 after heated floor debate about local control and police accountability.
Representative Veil Hanson, the sponsor, said the bill targets practices in which chiefs or supervisors direct officers to issue a set number of citations, which can turn enforcement into a revenue‑generating exercise rather than a public‑safety measure. Hanson told colleagues of an Ogden controversy and argued the bill allows chiefs to direct patrols but not to set hard numeric quotas.
Opponents raised concerns that the state is intruding into municipal administration and that the bill could limit legitimate performance expectations; Representative Sandstrom and others warned the provision could prohibit narrowly targeted safety enforcement if written too broadly. Representative Harper offered a clarifying amendment ("require or direct") that the sponsor accepted.
The House passed the measure on a narrow margin, 38 yes, 34 no, 3 absent. The transcript shows both policy and administrative concerns and indicates the measure will head to the Senate for further work.
