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Senate debates tougher penalties, license suspensions in custodial interference bill
Summary
Senate floor debate over House Bill 197 centered on escalating penalties for custodial interference, a contested reclassification of first-offense penalties and a proposed license-suspension remedy; sponsors said the changes aim to give courts 'teeth' to enforce visitation, while opponents warned about enforcement burden on law enforcement and fiscal implications.
Senators on the Utah Senate floor debated House Bill 197, a custodial interference amendment that would create escalating criminal penalties and administrative sanctions for parents who deny court-ordered visitation. Sponsor Senator Madsen described the bill as a way to provide an enforceable remedy for parents deprived of court-awarded access and said the fifth substitute adds driver-license suspensions as a non-incarceration sanction.
The bill originally proposed a continuity of misdemeanor classes with a path to felony in more severe circumstances. Senator Madsen said, after…
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