Enrolled Copy S.B. 246
1 JUVENILE JUSTICE MODIFICATIONS
2024 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Luz Escamilla House Sponsor: Tyler Clancy
2
3 LONG TITLE
4 General Description:
5 This bill addresses a notification to a school from a juvenile court.
6 Highlighted Provisions:
7 This bill:
8 ▸ requires a local education agency (LEA) to transfer a notification from a juvenile court
9 regarding a student to another LEA for one year; and
10 ▸ makes technical corrections.
11 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
12 None
13 Other Special Clauses:
14 This bill provides a special effective date.
15 This bill provides a coordination clause.
16 Utah Code Sections Affected:
17 AMENDS:
18 53G-8-403, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2023, Chapter 161
19 80-6-103, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2023, Chapter 161
20 Utah Code Sections affected by Coordination Clause:
21 53G-8-403, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2023, Chapter 161
22
23 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
24 The following section is affected by a coordination clause at the end of this bill.
25 Section 1. Section 53G-8-403 is amended to read:
26 53G-8-403 . Superintendent required to notify school.
27 (1) "LEA head" means the superintendent of a school district or the director of a charter
28 school.
S.B. 246 Enrolled Copy
29 (2) Within three days of receiving a notification from the juvenile court or a law
30 enforcement agency under Section 80-6-103, the [district superintendent] LEA head or
31 LEA head's designee shall notify the principal of the school the juvenile attends or last
32 attended.
33 [(2)] (3) Upon receipt of the information, the principal shall:
34 (a) make a notation in a secure file other than the student's permanent file; and
35 (b) if the student is still enrolled in the school, notify staff members who, in his opinion,
36 should know of the adjudication.
37 [(3)] (4) A person receiving information pursuant to this part may only disclose the
38 information to other persons having both a right and a current need to know.
39 [(4)] (5) Access to secure files shall be limited to persons authorized to receive information
40 under this part.
41 (6) Beginning no later than July 1, 2025, an LEA shall digitally maintain the secure file
42 described in Subsection (3) or, if available, the students related reintegration plan
43 described in 53G-8-213, for one year from the day the notice is received and ensure the
44 secure file follows the student if the student transfers to a different school or LEA.
45 Section 2. Section 80-6-103 is amended to read:
46 80-6-103 . Notification to a school -- Civil and criminal liability.
47 (1) As used in this section:
48 (a) "School" means a school in a local education agency.
49 (b) "Local education agency" means a school district, a charter school, or the Utah
50 Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.
51 (c) "School official" means the superintendent of a school district or the director of a
52 charter school or designee in which the minor resides or attends school.
53 (d) "Transferee school official" means the superintendent of a school district or the
54 director of a charter school or designee in which the minor resides or attends school if
55 the minor is admitted to home detention.
56 [(c) "School official" means:]
57 [(i) the school superintendent of the district in which the minor resides or attends
58 school; or]
59 [(ii) if there is no school superintendent for the school, the principal of the school where
60 the minor attends.]
61 [(d) "Transferee school official" means:]
62 [(i) the school superintendent of the district in which the minor resides or attends school
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Enrolled Copy S.B. 246
63 if the minor is admitted to home detention; or]
64 [(ii) if there is no school superintendent for the school, the principal of the school where
65 the minor attends if the minor is admitted to home detention.]
66 (2) A notification under this section is provided for a minor's supervision and student safety.
67 (3) (a) If a minor is taken into temporary custody under Section 80-6-201 for a violent
68 felony or an offense in violation of Title 76, Chapter 10, Part 5, Weapons, the peace
69 officer, or other person who has taken the minor into temporary custody, shall notify
70 a school official within five days after the day on which the minor is taken into
71 temporary custody.
72 (b) A notification under this Subsection (3) shall only disclose:
73 (i) the name of the minor;
74 (ii) the offense for which the minor was taken into temporary custody or admitted to
75 detention; and
76 (iii) if available, the name of the victim if the victim resides in the same school
77 district as the minor or attends the same school as the minor.
78 (4) After a detention hearing for a minor who is alleged to have committed a violent felony,
79 or an offense in violation of Title 76, Chapter 10, Part 5, Weapons, the juvenile court
80 shall order a juvenile probation officer to notify a school official, or a transferee school
81 official, and the appropriate local law enforcement agency of the juvenile court's
82 decision, including any disposition, order, or no-contact order.
83 (5) If a designated staff member of a detention facility admits a minor to home detention
84 under Section 80-6-205 and notifies the juvenile court of that admission, the juvenile
85 court shall order a juvenile probation officer to notify a school official, or a transferee
86 school official, and the appropriate local law enforcement agency that the minor has
87 been admitted to home detention.
88 (6) (a) If the juvenile court adjudicates a minor for an offense of violence or an offense
89 in violation of Title 76, Chapter 10, Part 5, Weapons, the juvenile court shall order a
90 juvenile probation officer to notify a school official, or a transferee school official, of
91 the adjudication.
92 (b) A notification under this Subsection (6) shall be given to a school official, or a
93 transferee school official, within three days after the day on which the minor is
94 adjudicated.
95 (c) A notification under this section shall include:
96 (i) the name of the minor;
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97 (ii) the offense for which the minor was adjudicated; and
98 (iii) if available, the name of the victim if the victim:
99 (A) resides in the same school district as the minor; or
100 (B) attends the same school as the minor.
101 (7) If the juvenile court orders probation under Section 80-6-702, the juvenile court shall
102 order a juvenile probation officer to notify the appropriate local law enforcement agency
103 and the school official of the juvenile court's order for probation.
104 (8) (a) An employee of the local law enforcement agency, or the school the minor
105 attends, who discloses a notification under this section is not:
106 (i) civilly liable except when the disclosure constitutes fraud or willful misconduct as
107 provided in Section 63G-7-202; and
108 (ii) civilly or criminally liable except when the disclosure constitutes a knowing
109 violation of Section 63G-2-801.
110 (b) An employee of a governmental agency is immune from any criminal liability for
111 failing to provide the information required by this section, unless the employee fails
112 to act due to malice, gross negligence, or deliberate indifference to the consequences.
113 (9) (a) A notification under this section shall be classified as a protected record under
114 Section 63G-2-305.
115 (b) All other records of disclosures under this section are governed by Title 63G,
116 Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act, and the Family
117 Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g.
118 Section 3. Effective date.
119 This bill takes effect on July 1, 2024.
120 Section 4. Coordinating S.B. 246 with H.B. 331.
121 If S.B. 246, Juvenile Justice Modifications, and H.B. 331, School and Classroom
122 Amendments, both pass and become law, the Legislature intends that, on July 1,
123 2024, changes to Section 53G-8-403 in S.B. 246 supersede amendments to Section
124 53G-8-403 in H.B. 331.
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Statutes affected: Introduced: 53G-8-403, 80-6-103
Enrolled: 53G-8-403, 80-6-103