Utah

One lawmaker wants to streamline the reparations process for crime victims

Published

2 years ago

January 25, 2024

One lawmaker wants to streamline the reparations process for crime victims

A December day in 2020 left Susan Duehlmeier’s daughter in the hospital with catastrophic injuries, including broken occipital bones and knocked out teeth. A car speeding 70 mph collided with her daughter’s vehicle.

Duehlmeier appeared before a House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice committee meeting Wednesday to tell her daughter’s story as Rep. Melissa Ballard, R-North Salt Lake introduced HB276, a bill that deals with crime victims reparations.

Committee members were shown pictures of Duehlmeier’s daughter’s injuries before she explained the cost of the crash on their family. In addition to the broken occipital bones and knocked out teeth, Duehlmeier’s daughter suffered a compound fracture, a brain bleed, a traumatic brain injury and a broken jaw, per KUTV. On top of the psychological and emotional trauma, the injuries sustained were costly.

“We probably have put out $150,000 for expenses,” Duehlmeier said in the meeting, explaining that insurance helped cover some additional expenses. When the family went to seek restitution for what had occurred, they had to wait for months. “We were told that we could not get any help until the case was closed,” she said.

Rep. Melissa Ballard, R-North Salt Lake, center, talks with Rep. Christine Watkins, R-Price, and Rep. Jefferson Burton, R-Salem, at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Jan. 25, 2023.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Ballard’s bill is aimed toward helping victims of crime receive reparations in a timely manner. It would allow the Utah Office for Victims of Crimes to give lump sum payments for crime-related deaths or disability and establishes procedures around these kinds of requests.

Gary Scheller, director of the Utah Office for Victims of Crime, said there are two caps on reparations in current statute. There’s a $50,000 cap for crimes that have aggravating circumstances and $25,000 in the cases of crimes without those circumstances.

“We are in a perfect position as a government agency to say ‘here’s some emergency funding’ and work to set very tight parameters on what that looks like,” Scheller said as he explained that the current way the office operates can leave people “in a holding pattern” while the office waits for the necessary information from law enforcement to move forward.

During the meeting, Vickie Walker, who was appointed to the Crime Victims Reparations Board by Gov. Spencer Cox, spoke about why she supported the bill.

When her husband Jeff and her son A.J. were shopping at Trolley Square, her husband was murdered and her son had received life-threatening injuries. Walker described how she was “sobbing” in the funeral home when they brought the bill to her and she didn’t know how she’d be able to afford it.

Walker said she supported the bill because she knows what it’s like to have bills pile up as the result of a crime. “We had medical bills, we had therapy bills, we had a lot of bills surrounding A.J.’s injury and Jeff’s death,” she said. “And we noticed that it was almost a year after Jeff was murdered that we were still paying bills.”

Others said that they favored getting help to victims, but said the bill needed some tweaks as it pertains to the requirement contained within the bill for law enforcement to produce a report of the crime to the office.

Tom Ross, executive director of the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, said, “The good news is, to me, that everyone recognizes we’ve got to get funding to victims as soon as possible.” But he added that this has to be done in a way that doesn’t hurt law enforcement investigations.

As the bill is currently written, it states, “a law enforcement agency shall provide a complete copy of an investigative report to the office within five business days of the date the office requests a copy of the report.” Based on that investigative report, the office would then determine if the victim can receive reparations for what happened.

It was this language in the bill that sparked a significant amount of discussion.

Nate Mutter, chair of the Utah Law Enforcement Legislative Committee, said, “I hate to say that we do oppose this bill as it’s currently written.”

“We definitely do not want to get in the way of legislation that helps support victims and we believe there is a part to this bill that does support victims and we are really here for that part,” Mutter said. He added that the opposition stems from the lack of distinction between an open and a closed investigation.

“We have zero problems handling over a closed investigation that becomes a public record at that point and we definitely want to move that process forward and give information to whoever needs it as fast as possible,” Mutter said. “Where the concern is, of course, is the open investigation.”

Mutter explained they were concerned that it “puts the integrity of that investigation at risk. And where we’re trying to help victims, that could actually hurt victims if that information were to get it.” Some investigations, he said, are protected from other members of the agency that’s doing the investigation and there’s a necessity for that.

After public comment closure, the committee voted to hold the bill, which means that it’s still in committee and has not yet moved to a floor vote.

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Utah Falls in Emotional, Physical Game Against Capitals | Utah Mammoth

Published

6 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Utah Falls in Emotional, Physical Game Against Capitals | Utah Mammoth

Utah’s power play went 2-for-4, and it was the first time the Mammoth have scored two power play goals in a game since the last time they played the Capitals (Mar. 3, at Washington). Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley each capitalized on the man-advantage in the first period. Cooley was added to the top unit with Barrett Hayton out of the lineup (week-to-week, upper-body injury), and he shared what was working for the top unit.

“Just trying to establish a shot,” Cooley explained. “Trying to build off that and then things start to open up. We have a lot of great players on that unit that can make a lot of plays, and I think when we establish a shot first (mentality) that’s when we’re going to get our opportunities, and find seams and different rebounds like that.”

“They were rolling,” Tourigny said of the power play. “The way they were attacking, the way they were direct, they were really aggressive. They were intentional, their aggressiveness, that paid off.”

In addition to his power play goal, Guenther also scored three minutes and 55 seconds later. The forward has six multi-goal efforts this season and he set a new career-high in points (61). This is his second consecutive season with 60 or more points. Guenther has been a consistent scorer for the Mammoth as he has nine goals in the month of March and has scored eight of those in the last 11 games. He trails on Boston’s Pavel Zacha (9) for the league lead in that span.

MacKenzie Weegar scored his first goal as a member of the Mammoth in the third period. He’s contributed a point in two-straight games and has grown his role with Utah. In addition to playing alongside alternate captain Mikhail Sergachev on the top d-pairing, Weegar contributes to both sides of special teams.

It’s a close playoff race in the Western Conference and Utah is still in the first wildcard spot. However, the Mammoth will need to raise their game, keep a high level of intensity, and manage their emotions in the final nine games of the regular season. Utah’s next game is a tough test against the Los Angeles Kings on the road.

“Everyone’s gotta look in the mirror, we all got better and we all know that,” Keller said. “Still super confident with our group. This is the most exciting part of the year and the most exciting hockey. We’re all positive, and we’ll learn from it and go to L.A..”

“Yeah, I think we started out good,” Cooley reflected. “Special teams were good. I thought the first period, we were moving it well. I think we kind of just started to let it slip, give up some odd-man rushes, and they capitalized. Every game is so important right now, and it stings. It’s two points that we probably should have had, especially early on with the way we were playing. We got to make sure that we are ready for a heck of a battle with L.A.”

Additional Notes from Tonight (per Mammoth PR)

Sergachev registered three assists in the first period marking the first three-assist frame of his NHL career. This also marked his second career three-point period, both of which have come against Washington, as well as his fourth three-point game this season.

Alexander Kerfoot posted an assist on Weegar’s third-period goal, marking his 300^th career NHL point. He is the 16^th player from his draft class to reach that milestone. He joins Sergachev as the second skater to accomplish the feat with Utah.

Keller posted three primary assists tonight for his eighth three-point game, third three-assist game, 23^rd multi-point game, and 13^th multi-assist game in 2025-26, all of which are team highs. The Captain has seven points over his last six games (3G, 4A).

Utah’s captain has tallied at least 70 points for the fourth consecutive season and he became the 12^th NHL player to accomplish this feat over that stretch. According to NHL PR, Keller is the fifth player in NHL history to eclipse the 70-point mark in each of a franchise’s first two seasons.

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Niskanen Center, Arnold Ventures Applaud Utah Clearance Rate Legislation – Niskanen Center

Published

18 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Niskanen Center, Arnold Ventures Applaud Utah Clearance Rate Legislation – Niskanen Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2026

Media Contacts:
Louisa Tavlas
ltavlas@niskanencenter.org

Arnold Ventures
media@arnoldventures.org

Olin: Legislators, Cox, “providing law enforcement with additional resources to improve investigative outcomes” and keep Utah safe.

Washington, DC (March 26, 2026) — The Niskanen Center and Arnold Ventures applaud the Utah State Legislature and Governor Spencer Cox for passing new, bipartisan legislation designed to solve more crimes and provide support for crime victims. The bill, H.B. 137, passed both the Utah House of Representatives and the Utah Senate by wide, bipartisan margins and was signed into law by the Governor today.

“Making Utah as safe as possible requires ensuring law enforcement has every available resource to identify and arrest every criminal who preys upon innocent citizens,” said Jason Olin, senior government affairs manager for criminal justice at the Niskanen Center. “HB 137 establishes a Violent Crime Clearance Rate Fund that will provide law enforcement with additional resources to improve investigative outcomes. We thank Rep. Clancy and Sen. McKell for their leadership on this critical issue and Gov. Cox for signing this important piece of legislation.”

“Solving more violent crimes quickly can bring peace to victims and reduce the number of future victims,” said Kevin Ring, vice president of criminal justice advocacy at Arnold Ventures. “Would-be offenders need to know that they will be held accountable, and this law will make it more likely they will. We thank legislative leaders, including Rep. Clancy and Sen. McKell, and Gov. Cox for making sure Utah taxpayers and communities get the biggest public safety bang for their buck.”

H.B. 137, sponsored by Rep. Tyler Clancy (R-60) and Sen. Mike McKell (R-25), creates the Violent Crime Clearance Rate Fund to assist Utah law enforcement agencies in solving violent crimes. The fund will support hiring additional law enforcement officers and providing them with the tools they need to solve crimes. H.B. 137 includes provisions to ensure that resources from the fund reach departments of all sizes across both urban and rural jurisdictions. It will also help researchers conduct rigorous evaluations of the policies and practices that are most effective in solving crimes.

Utah is one of the safest states in the nation. But since 2019, the state’s violent crime clearance rate has hovered around 53%. That means nearly half of all violent crimes reported in Utah result in no arrest and no accountability. Even Utah’s 2024 homicide clearance rate of 74% — well above the national average — leaves more than 1 in 4 murders unsolved. Behind each of those unsolved cases is a victim whose family has been denied justice.

Olin, Ring, and other criminal justice experts are available for interview or comment.

More information on the Niskanen Center’s criminal justice policy work can be found here.

More information on AV’s criminal justice policy work can be found here.

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The Niskanen Center advances an evidence-based agenda to reduce the social costs of crime and punishment. Our priority is to deter crime and reduce violence by building effective systems that deliver proportional punishment swiftly and predictably, and by ensuring law enforcement has the capacity to keep our neighborhoods safe.

Arnold Ventures is a philanthropy that supports research to understand the root causes of America’s most persistent and pressing problems, as well as evidence-based solutions to address them. By focusing on systemic change and bipartisan policy reforms, AV works to improve the lives of American families, strengthen communities, and promote economic opportunity.

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Utah Jazz Reacts: Who is the most important core player?

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

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Utah Jazz Reacts: Who is the most important core player?

The Utah Jazz are clearly doing everything they can to keep their pick in the upcoming NBA draft. Something tells me that next season, we won’t see as many players on the injury report as this season. That means that the core of this Jazz team will play, and it’s clear they’re going to play well. The question is, of the current Jazz roster, who is going to be the most important player next season? Now, Utah may win the lottery and that could change this entire question. If Utah drafts someone like Darryn Peterson or AJ Dybantsa, that changes everything. That said, let’s just ignore the lottery and draft for the sake of this question. If we’re looking at the odds, it’s statistically a little more likely Utah doesn’t draft in the top four of the draft anyway.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Jazz fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

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