SB 182 Utah Senate · 2026 General Session

Attorney Admission to Jail Facilities Amendments

SB 182 requires Utah county sheriffs to permit licensed attorneys to enter jails for client meetings under specific conditions. Attorneys must be licensed in good standing and inform the sheriff of their intent to meet a prisoner who is their current/former client, prospective client, or someone relevant to a criminal case. Sheriffs must provide a private meeting space during standard hours (8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday, excluding holidays), though special circumstances may allow exceptions. The bill also allows sheriffs to designate staff to handle these requests and mandates public posting of designee contact details. This directly affects attorneys seeking jail access and sheriffs managing facility entry protocols.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action Mar 7, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Amended 2/9/2026 10:02:126 → Substitute #1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill amends Utah Code section 17-72-411 to establish clear rules for attorney access to county jail facilities. The changes clarify when attorneys can meet with prisoners, specify requirements for those meetings, and outline procedures for designating jail staff to manage attorney visits.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on attorney access to county jails, but the language is refined to provide clearer procedures and requirements for both attorneys and sheriffs.

REQUIREMENT

Clarified that attorneys must inform the sheriff they wish to meet with a prisoner at the jail, and sheriffs must provide a private, confidential space for these meetings.

Updated the conditions under which attorneys can meet with prospective clients, specifying that meetings must be requested by the prisoner or their family, or relate to civil rights matters.

Established standard meeting hours (8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays) but allows exceptions for special circumstances like legal disadvantages, undue hardship, or emergencies.

Requires sheriffs to designate another person to act on their behalf for attorney meeting processes and to publicly post the designee's name on websites.

TECHNICAL

Changed formatting and layout of the bill text, including line numbers, headers, and spacing, without altering substantive policy content.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Feb 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate/ comm rpt/ amended [Senate Business and Labor Committee]

upper

Feb 7, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation [Senate Business and Labor Committee]

upper

Feb 7, 2026

Introduced

Senate Comm - Amendment Recommendation [Senate Business and Labor Committee]

upper

Feb 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate Comm - Not Considered [Senate Business and Labor Committee]

upper

Feb 2, 2026

Committee

Senate/ to standing committee [Senate Business and Labor Committee]

upper

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors