Right now, Utah's founding document states that slavery is generally prohibited "except as a punishment for crime." Rep. Sandra Hollins has been arguing all session that this loophole, patterned after language in the U.S. Constitution, has no place in the law and should be removed.
On Wednesday, state lawmakers gave the final signoff to a resolution that seeks to accomplish the deletion with a ballot question next year.
"I think everybody had the same feeling that this no longer reflected Utah values," Hollins said Wednesday following the vote.
Her resolution, HJR8, cleared both legislative chambers unanimously but was amended in the Senate to clarify that the slavery ban would not affect the “lawful administration of the criminal justice system.