A bill that would alter the state’s current halfway house arrangement by dispersing the buildings that house parolees throughout Utah is on its way to an important vote after a Senate committee showed it supports what would be a corrections policy shift for the state’s inmates.
The bill would set requirements for counties throughout Utah to host halfway houses, where parolees receive treatment in the effort to prepare them to return to life outside the corrections system. Currently, only Salt Lake and Weber counties have the institutions.
HB126 overcame opposition from top officials at the Utah Department of Corrections and civil rights advocates.