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House circled exoneration bill after heated debate over taxpayer compensation
Summary
The House circled House Bill 154, which would create a judicial route to declare factual innocence and provide financial assistance to exonerees, after members split over whether taxpayers should fund compensation; sponsor tied payments to existing victim-reparations mechanisms and the bill will be revised for compromise.
House Bill 154, a two-part proposal to allow courts to declare a person factually innocent based on new evidence and to provide financial assistance to those judicially exonerated, was circled by the Utah House on a motion to set the bill aside for further work.
Representative David Litvak, the sponsor, told colleagues the bill creates a petition process for courts to find factual innocence — beyond the DNA-based mechanism already on the books — requiring a finding by the court by clear and convincing evidence. He said the bill is narrowly drafted to exclude releases based on technicalities and to…
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