Cohabitant Definition Amendments
Introduction
Jan 20
House Rules
Mar 5
House Committee
Jan 28
House Floor Vote
Senate Rules
Senate Committee
Senate 2nd Reading
Senate 3rd Reading
Governor
This bill addresses the definition of a cohabitant.
This bill:
AI-generated summary. We recommend consulting the bill text for important decisions.
Utah's domestic violence and protective order laws rely on the legal term "cohabitant" to define who qualifies for protections — and this bill updates and clarifies that definition in two key places. For domestic violence and protective order statutes, the bill restructures the definition to explicitly include adult siblings (including step- and foster siblings) of a child, while explicitly excluding parents, stepparents, and foster parents from that same definition — meaning parent-child abuse is handled under separate child protective order laws rather than cohabitant abuse laws. The bill also updates the "battered person mitigation" law — which allows someone convicted of a crime to receive a reduced charge if they were acting against an abusive household member — to clearly cover both minors abused by a parent figure and parents abused by a minor child.
Introduction
Jan 20
House Rules
Mar 5
House Committee
Jan 28
House Floor Vote
Senate Rules
Senate Committee
Senate 2nd Reading
Senate 3rd Reading
Governor
IntroductionJan 20
House RulesMar 5
House CommitteeJan 28
House Floor Vote
Senate Rules
Senate Committee
Senate 2nd Reading
Senate 3rd Reading
Governor
This bill addresses the definition of a cohabitant.
This bill:
AI-generated summary. We recommend consulting the bill text for important decisions.
Utah's domestic violence and protective order laws rely on the legal term "cohabitant" to define who qualifies for protections — and this bill updates and clarifies that definition in two key places. For domestic violence and protective order statutes, the bill restructures the definition to explicitly include adult siblings (including step- and foster siblings) of a child, while explicitly excluding parents, stepparents, and foster parents from that same definition — meaning parent-child abuse is handled under separate child protective order laws rather than cohabitant abuse laws. The bill also updates the "battered person mitigation" law — which allows someone convicted of a crime to receive a reduced charge if they were acting against an abusive household member — to clearly cover both minors abused by a parent figure and parents abused by a minor child.
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Last updated Mar 26, 2026, 9:39 PM