H 696 Idaho House · 68th Legislature, 2nd Regular Session (2026)

PRISONERS – Amends existing law to revise the definition of “sexual contact.”

This bill revises Idaho's legal definition of "sexual contact" to explicitly include specific sexual acts (like intercourse, genital contact, or oral contact) and any physical contact with sexual intent. It prohibits correctional facility employees (including private facility staff) and supervising officers from having such contact with prisoners, juvenile offenders, parolees, or probationers (unless the person is their spouse). Violations would be classified as felonies punishable by up to life imprisonment. The law is set to take effect on July 1, 2026.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Mar 2026
Introduced Feb 16, 2026 Signed Mar 30, 2026
Floor votes · Senate Mar 24, 2026 · House Mar 5, 2026

How they voted

350
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 36
Mar 24, 2026
D Democratic6
6 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican30
29 Yea 1
96% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
18
Key actions
7
Committee
3
Mar 25, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President; returned to House
upper
Mar 25, 2026
Upper · Passed
Received from the House enrolled/signed by Speaker
upper
Mar 25, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported Enrolled; Signed by Speaker; Transmitted to Senate
lower
Mar 24, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third time in full – PASSED - 34-0-1AYES – Adams, Anthon, Bernt, Blaylock, Burtenshaw, Carlson, Cook, Den Hartog, Foreman, Galloway, Grow, Guthrie, Harris, Hart, Keyser, Kohl, Lakey, Lenney, Lent, Nichols, Okuniewicz, Rabe, Ricks, Ruchti, Semmelroth, Shippy, Taylor, Toews, VanOrden, Ward-Engelking, Wintrow, Woodward, Zito, ZuiderveldNAYS – NoneAbsent and excused – Bjerke(Bjerke)Floor Sponsor - NicholsTitle apvd - to House
upper
Mar 19, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation; Filed for second reading
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, read first time; referred to: Judiciary & Rules
upper
Mar 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read Third Time in Full – PASSED - 68-0-2AYES – Alfieri, Barbieri, Beiswenger, Berch, Bingham, Boyle, Bruce, Burgoyne, Cannon, Cayler, Cheatum, Church, Cornilles, Crane(12), Crane(13), Egbert, Ehardt, Ehlers, Erickson, Fuhriman, Furniss, Galaviz, Gannon, Garner, Hall(Stone), Handy, Harris, Hawkins, Haws, Healey, Hill, Holtzclaw, Hostetler, Leavitt, Manwaring, Marmon, Mathias, McCann, Mendive, Mickelsen(Athay), Miller, Mitchell, Monks, Nelsen, Palmer, Petzke, Pickett, Pohanka, Price, Rasor, R
lower
Mar 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation, Filed for Second Reading
lower
Feb 17, 2026
Committee
Reported Printed and Referred to Judiciary, Rules & Administration
lower
Feb 16, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, read first time, referred to JRA for Printing
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.