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Senate approves bill allowing candidates to shield home addresses from public website
Summary
The Senate approved SB163, which lets candidates provide their home address privately to the lieutenant governor for residency verification while listing a separate public contact address; sponsors cited safety concerns after threats, opponents said public residence disclosure is part of accountability.
The Utah Senate on the second-reading calendar approved Senate Bill 163, a measure that would let candidates withhold their home address from the public online filing record while still providing the address privately to the Lieutenant Governor’s office for residency verification.
Sponsor Senator Andurig described a personal safety incident as the impetus for the proposal: “an emotionally disturbed person went on lieutenant governor's website and got my home address … and showed up at my house,” he said, adding that the bill would allow a candidate to provide a campaign address or P.O. box as the public contact while the Lieutenant Governor would retain the confidential home-residence verification.
Supporters said the change preserves verification of district residency without making a candidate’s private home easily accessible online. Senator Henderson said the bill’s text appears to require an alternate public contact: “the portion … contains a candidate's residential or mailing address if the candidate provides … another address or phone number where the candidate may be contacted.” Senator Hilliard, who said he previously removed his home address from public listings for safety reasons, said the option should be available to those concerned for family security.
Opponents argued public disclosure of residence is a baseline of accountability. Senator Wyler said, “If you're going to mount the bully pulpit … one of the minimum things … is to tell people in your district where you live,” and Senator Bramble said he also intended to vote no despite having experienced harassment.
After debate, the body voted to read the bill for a third time. The roll-call summary recorded 19 aye votes, 4 nay votes and 6 absent; the clerk announced that SB163 “shall be read a third time.” The bill’s sponsor said he would check implementation details with the Lieutenant Governor’s office about how verification would occur.
The Senate paused briefly later in the day for a technology issue. The bill will proceed to a third-reading process as recorded by the chamber.
