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Utah Code § 80-2-602 — Utah mandatory-reporting statute (juvenile code)

Clergy named as mandatory reporter?: No
Confessional exemption?: Yes

Statute: Utah Code § 80-2-602
Clergy named: All-person
Pending: —

Utah covers clergy through its all-person reporting law, but the statute exempts a clergy member for a direct confession made in a ministerial setting (§ 80-2-602(3)(a)). Lawmakers have tried repeatedly to narrow that exception. In 2024 the Legislature instead passed HB432, which only lets clergy report ongoing abuse if they choose to. UCO's organizing base is here, and the work is sharpening that exception's edges. This is exactly the kind of state-level reform UCO is pushing for in every state.

Section 01What needs to change

What needs to change in Utah.

Clergy-confession carveout in § 80-2-602(3)(a)
Although Utah's reporting statute imposes a duty on any person (subsection (1)), § 80-2-602(3)(a) carves out a clergy member for a confession made while functioning in a ministerial capacity and without the individual's consent, when the perpetrator made the confession directly to the clergy member and the clergy member is bound by canon law or church doctrine to keep it confidential. Direct-perpetrator confessions to clergy bound by doctrinal confidentiality are exempt from Utah's otherwise universal duty to report.
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2024 amendment (HB432) added a permissive option but did not close the carveout
HB432, signed March 13, 2024, added subsection (4)(b): when a clergy member reasonably believes a child is the subject of ongoing abuse or neglect, the clergy member may report even if the perpetrator confessed. The verb is may, not shall. Utah expressly chose not to make clergy mandatory reporters of confessions and instead added a civil and criminal liability shield for clergy who voluntarily report. The mandatory-reporting gap in subsection (3)(a) remains.
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Broad evidentiary privilege under Scott v. Hammock reinforces the carveout
In Scott v. Hammock (Utah 1994), the Utah Supreme Court held that nonpenitential communications to clergy are privileged if they are intended to be confidential and made for the purpose of seeking spiritual counseling, guidance, or advice from a cleric acting in a professional role pursuant to the discipline of the church. That broad reading of § 78B-1-137(3) means the parallel § 80-2-602(3)(a) reporting carveout shields more than formal sacramental confessions.
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Section 02What's needed

What it takes to close the gap.

Section 03How you can help

Concrete ways to support reform in Utah.

Donate

Donate.

Utah has seen repeated reform attempts stall. Donations fund the research, coalition-building, and the long arc of the work in UCO's home state.

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Section 04Timeline

How Utah got here.

2020
HB90 fails
Rep. Angela Romero's HB90 would have removed the clergy-penitent privilege exception from Utah's reporting statute (then at § 62A-4a-403). Held in the House Rules Committee; it never received a floor vote.
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2023
Three reform bills fail without a hearing
In the 2023 session, HB115 (Romero, eliminate the exception), HB212 (King, codify the exception), and SB72 (Pitcher, narrow it for ongoing abuse) all died in committee without a hearing.
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2024
HB432 signed; HB131 and HB444 fail
The Legislature passed HB432, which permits but does not require clergy to report ongoing abuse learned in confession, and added a liability shield. The bills that would have narrowed the exemption, HB131 and HB444, were both struck and filed on March 1, 2024.
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Section 05Key cases

Litigation shaping the law.

Scott v. Hammock
870 P.2d 947 (Utah 1994)1994
On a certified question from the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, the Utah Supreme Court held that nonpenitential communications to clergy are privileged if intended to be confidential and made for the purpose of seeking spiritual counseling from a cleric acting in a professional role pursuant to church discipline. The leading Utah authority on the scope of the clergy-penitent privilege, it substantially broadens the set of communications that fall within the clergy carveout to § 80-2-602's reporting duty.
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Section 06Background

Public-record sources UCO is tracking.

Always verify against the underlying statute or filing before quoting.

Utah State Legislature· current text 2026
Utah Code § 80-2-602 — Reporting requirements
Canonical statutory text. Subsection (1) imposes an any-person reporting duty; subsection (3)(a) preserves the clergy confession carveout; subsection (4)(b), added by HB432 in 2024, permits clergy to report ongoing abuse learned in confession.
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Utah State Legislature· current text 2026
Utah Code § 78B-1-137 — Witnesses; privileged communications
The evidentiary privilege backstop. Subsection (3) provides that clergy cannot be examined about a confession without the confessing individual's consent. The testimonial privilege the § 80-2-602(3)(a) reporting carveout protects.
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Utah State Legislature· 2024
HB432 (2024) — Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Amendments
Official bill page for the 2024 amendment that added the permissive 'may report' option and liability shield while leaving the mandatory-reporting carveout intact. Passed House 64-0 and Senate 26-0; signed March 13, 2024.
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KUER (NPR Utah) / Associated Press· February 29, 2024
Utah Legislature expands ability of clergy members to report child abuse
Contemporaneous coverage of HB432 confirming it stops short of removing the clergy exemption, and chronicling the unsuccessful 2020, 2023, and 2024 attempts to narrow it. Establishes the recent-attempt urgency tier.
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Utah State Legislature· 2024
H.B. 131 (2024), Clergy Mandatory Reporting Amendments
Official bill page confirming HB131 was struck and filed on March 1, 2024; first reading January 16, 2024, with no committee hearing or floor vote. Companion to HB444.
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Other states

Last reviewed May 24, 2026 · by Unheard Child Org research teamHow we track this