Utah bill addresses need for protective orders

By Brooke Adams

| The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Feb 13 2013 05:55 pm • Last Updated Feb 13 2013 06:06 pm

The addition of two words — "or had" — will allow more people to seek protective orders under a bill that cleared the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday.

HB227, sponsored by Rep. Brad R. Wilson, R-Kaysville, would expand the definition of "cohabitant" to include a person who has or had a child — a situation that might apply when a child has been adopted or has passed away — so he or she could seek a protective order against the other parent.

In such cases the child may be gone, but the potential danger remains, Ron Gordon, director of the Utah Council on Victims of Crime, told the committee.

Brooke Adams

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