ST. GEORGE — A bill that would amend the Utah Code’s definition of stalking moved to the House floor Wednesday after passing unanimously in the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee. Local advocacy groups have said they oppose the bill on the grounds that it will make it harder to prosecute stalkers.
Stalking Amendments, designated HB 21 in the 2021 Utah Legislature and sponsored by Rep. Candice B. Pierucci, R-Salt Lake City, would require evidence of a “continuity of purpose,” meaning it must be proven that the intent of the acts was to make contact against the alleged victim’s wishes.
The bill originally also suggested raising the number of incidents from “two or more acts” to three or more, but upon introducing the bill to the House committee on Jan. 27, Pierucci said after working with stakeholders, she opted to keep the number of incidents as it stood previously.
Pierucci told the committee she began working on the legislation in 2019 after a constituent told her he was wrongfully arrested for stalking. When Pierucci contacted the arresting officer, he cited ambiguity and vagueness in the state code. The Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice produced an analysis of all 50 states’ stalking codes and the language used, she said, and found that the most successful codes addressed a continuity of purpose, which Utah’s code lacked.
“While it seems like a small change, it’s a reasonable measured change that will provide additional clarity to our current stalking code,” Pierucci told the committee. “It’s important to note that it’s that the acts evidence a continuity of purpose. It does not require that the offender have a continuity of purpose, but that the acts evidence a continuity of purpose. And that will still give victims, law enforcement and prosecutors the power to proceed in these cases.”
At the committee hearing, several members of the public spoke both in favor of and against the bill. While Pierucci and Salt Lake County Deputy District Attorney Will Carlson — who worked with her on the bill — said it will provide much-needed clarity, those against the bill argued that the amendments will make it harder to prosecute stalkers and increase the difficulty of proving that someone is being stalked.
Alexandra Merritt, victim advocate for Utah Crime Victims Legal Clinic, told the committee that stalking cases are on the rise in Utah, and proving a case of stalking is already hard enough.
“Our code already makes it clear that there has to be that purpose from the stalker,” Merritt said. “I feel like this law does the opposite of what we want in Utah. We want to protect our victims. We want to give them access to safety, and changing the stalking code doesn’t just change it for a prosecutor’s office. It changes it for a victim who’s seeking a civil stalking injunction.”
In St. George, the Dove Center, a nonprofit organization that has been advocating for victims of domestic and sexual violence locally since 1993, has come forward in opposition to the bill. Executive Director Lindsey Boyer told St. George News via email that the requirement of a continuity of purpose will make it more difficult for victims to prove they are being stalked.
“It has been our observation and experience with clients that stalking injunctions are already difficult to obtain, so this will pose additional challenges for those needing this form of legal protection,” Boyer said.
She added that most stalking is perpetrated by someone the victim knows, so there is a high likelihood the stalker knows personal information that allows them to communicate with the victim. These messages may appear on the surface to be harmless, but they create real fear for the person experiencing it.
“Context is everything in these cases,” Boyer said.
In Cedar City, Canyon Creek Services has also said they oppose the bill. Canyon Creek Services provides advocacy services for survivors of domestic and sexual violence in addition to providing awareness, education and prevention services in Iron, Beaver and Garfield counties. Canyon Creek’s Awareness and Prevention Director Kaleigh Bronson-Cook told St. George News via email that last year, Canyon Creek Services served 128 survivors of stalking, awareness and prevention.
In an official statement, Canyon Creek Services said that “continuity of purpose” is a vague definition that can be interpreted as requiring the victim to prove the intent of the stalker. That is not the victim’s responsibility, the statement said, and also incredibly difficult if not impossible to do.
“A Civil Stalking Injunction is often the first step a victim takes in protecting themselves from further harm,” the statement said. “Many times prosecutors only file a stalking charge when a Civil Stalking Injunction has been violated, so increasing the barrier for survivors to obtain a stalking injunction will decrease the number of criminal stalking charges being prosecuted.”
Canyon Creek Services agreed with Merritt that the state’s current stalking code is already specific enough in its definition. They added that stalking is a very dangerous crime, citing a National Coalition Against Domestic Violence blog post that collected national statistics on stalking.
“These numbers don’t even begin to convey the emotional, psychological, and financial harm stalking can cause to survivors, their families and entire communities,” the statement said.
At the committee hearing, Carlson — the deputy district attorney who worked with Pierucci on the bill — said that while the bill will restrict the cases that could be filed, it will clarify the statute and empower victims and prosecutors to progress in stalking cases.
“The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office felt comfortable with this language because we feel that that fits within when we’re actually filing stalking cases right now,” he said.
On Wednesday, the House voted to circle HB 21, meaning they have temporarily postponed action on the bill without removing it from its place on the calendar.
Editor’s note: The article initially identified Kaleigh Bronson-Cook as the director of Canyon Creek Services. She is their awareness and prevention director.
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