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Committee backs narrow judge discretion for housing some 17-year capital-murder defendants, adopts recidivism metric changes

Utah Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · February 24, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Representative Lisonbee’s HB 48 would define juvenile recidivism metrics and allow a judge, in very limited cases where a 17-year-old commits capital murder and is sentenced after turning 18, to decide placement in juvenile secure care or adult prison. The committee advanced the bill after public testimony and debate over provisional housing risks.

The Senate committee voted to recommend House Bill 48 to the Senate floor after hearing testimony about two distinct elements: (1) establishing a definition and statutory code for juvenile recidivism metrics; and (2) a narrow provisional-housing provision that would permit a sentencing judge — in cases where the defendant was 17 when the crime…

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