HB 271 Utah House · 2025 General Session

Meeting or Procession Disruption Amendments

HB 271 amends Utah's law against disrupting lawful meetings or processions, directly affecting individuals who intentionally obstruct such gatherings. The bill clarifies that disrupting a meeting or procession by using force, threatening language that causes fear, or creating excessive noise to deny facility access constitutes a crime. Violations are classified as a class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail or a $100 fine. The changes take effect on May 7, 2025, and coordinate with another bill (H.B. 21) to ensure consistent legal language.

Issues: ✗ Criminal Justice

Bill status passed 3 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Feb 2025

Governor

Introduced Jan 21, 2025 Last action Mar 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Substitute #1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill introduces a coordination clause to ensure that amendments to Section 76-9-103 made in this bill take precedence over similar changes made in a separate bill (H.B. 21) regarding the same code section. The substantive language of the disruption offense remains largely unchanged, though some formatting and wording adjustments were made throughout the text.

TECHNICAL

Added a Senate Sponsor (Michael K. McKell) to the bill header.

Added a coordination clause in Section 3 to clarify that amendments to Section 76-9-103 in this bill supersede those in H.B. 21 if both become law.

Modified the formatting and wording of the offense definition, including removing the phrase 'he obstructs or interferes with' and adjusting the structure of subsections.

Removed the introductory phrase 'A person is guilty of' from the first subsection, replacing it with a direct reference to defined terms.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 3, 2025

Upper · Passed

Senate/ committee report favorable

upper

Mar 1, 2025

Upper · Passed

Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation

upper

Feb 26, 2025

Committee

Senate/ to standing committee

upper

Feb 12, 2025

Introduced

Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)

upper

Feb 11, 2025

Upper · Passed

House/ passed 3rd reading

upper

Feb 3, 2025

Lower · Passed

House Comm - Favorable Recommendation

lower

Jan 31, 2025

Committee

House/ to standing committee

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Introduced

House/ 1st reading (Introduced)

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor