Utah
This page lists the most applicable state crimes addressing stalking. However, depending on the facts of the case, a stalker might also be charged with other crimes, such as trespassing, intimidation of a witness, breaking and entering, etc. Check your state code or consult with your local prosecutor about other charges that might apply in a particular case.
Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-106.5. Stalking --
Definitions -- Injunction – Penalties. (2008)
(1)
As used
in this section:
(a)
"Conviction"
means:
(i)
a
verdict or conviction;
(ii)
a plea
of guilty or guilty and mentally ill;
(iii)
a plea
of no contest; or
(iv)
the
acceptance by the court of a plea in abeyance.
(b)
"Course
of conduct" means two or more acts directed at or toward a specific person,
including:
(i)
acts in
which the actor follows, monitors, observes, photographs, surveils, threatens,
or communicates to or about a person, or interferes with a person's
property:
(A)
directly, indirectly, or through
any third party; and
(B)
by any
action, method, device, or means; or
(ii)
when
the actor engages in any of the following acts or causes someone else to engage
in any of these acts:
(A)
approaches or confronts a
person;
(B)
appears
at the person's workplace or contacts the person's employer or
coworkers;
(C)
appears
at a person's residence or contacts a person's neighbors, or enters property
owned, leased, or occupied by a person;
(D)
sends
material by any means to the person or for the purpose of obtaining or
disseminating information about or communicating with the person to a member of
the person's family or household, employer, coworker, friend, or associate of
the person;
(E)
places
an object on or delivers an object to property owned, leased, or occupied by a
person, or to the person's place of employment with the intent that the object
be delivered to the person; or
(F)
uses a
computer, the Internet, text messaging, or any other electronic means to commit
an act that is a part of the course of conduct.
(c)
"Immediate family" means a spouse,
parent, child, sibling, or any other person who regularly resides in the
household or who regularly resided in the household within the prior six
months.
(d)
"Emotional distress" means
significant mental or psychological suffering, whether or not medical or other
professional treatment or counseling is required.
(e)
"Reasonable person" means a
reasonable person in the victim's circumstances.
(f)
"Stalking"
means an offense as described in Subsection (2) or (3).
(g)
"Text
messaging" means a communication in the form of electronic text or one or more
electronic images sent by the actor from a telephone or computer to another
person's telephone or computer by addressing the communication to the
recipient's telephone number.
(2)
A
person is guilty of stalking
who intentionally or knowingly engages in a course of conduct directed at a
specific person and knows or should know that the course of conduct would cause
a reasonable person:
(a)
to fear
for the person's own safety or the safety of a third person;
or
(b)
to
suffer other emotional distress.
(3)
A
person is guilty of stalking
who intentionally or knowingly violates:
(a)
a stalking
injunction issued pursuant to Title 77, Chapter 3a, Stalking
Injunctions; or
(b)
a
permanent criminal stalking
injunction issued pursuant to this section.
(4)
In any
prosecution under this section, it is not a defense that the
actor:
(a)
was not
given actual notice that the course of conduct was unwanted;
or
(b)
did not
intend to cause the victim fear or other emotional
distress.
(5)
An
offense of stalking
may be prosecuted under this section in any jurisdiction where one or more of
the acts that is part of the course of conduct was initiated or caused an effect
on the victim.
(6)
Stalking is a class A
misdemeanor:
(a)
upon
the offender's first violation of Subsection (2); or
(b)
if the
offender violated a stalking
injunction issued pursuant to Title 77, Chapter 3a, Stalking
Injunctions.
(7)
Stalking is a third degree felony if the
offender:
(a)
has been previously convicted of
an offense of stalking;
(b)
has been previously convicted in
another jurisdiction of an offense that is substantially similar to the offense
of stalking;
(c)
has
been previously convicted of any felony offense in Utah
or of any crime in another jurisdiction which if committed in Utah
would be a felony, in which the victim of the stalking
offense or a member of the victim's immediate family was also a victim of the
previous felony offense;
(d)
violated a permanent criminal
stalking
injunction issued pursuant to Subsection (9); or
(e)
has
been or is at the time of the offense a cohabitant, as defined in Section
78B-7-102, of the victim.
(8)
Stalking is a second degree felony if the
offender:
(a)
used a dangerous weapon as defined
in Section
76-1-601 or used other means or force likely to produce death or
serious bodily injury, in the commission of the crime of stalking;
(b)
has been previously convicted two
or more times of the offense of stalking;
(c)
has been convicted two or more
times in another jurisdiction or jurisdictions of offenses that are
substantially similar to the offense of stalking;
(d)
has
been convicted two or more times, in any combination, of offenses under
Subsection (7)(a), (b), or (c);
(e)
has
been previously convicted two or more times of felony offenses in Utah or of
crimes in another jurisdiction or jurisdictions which, if committed in Utah,
would be felonies, in which the victim of the stalking
was also a victim of the previous felony offenses; or
(f)
has
been previously convicted of an offense under Subsection (7)(d), (e), or
(f).
(9)
(a) A conviction for stalking
or a plea accepted by the court and held in
abeyance for a period of time
serves as an application for a permanent criminal stalking
injunction limiting the contact between the defendant and the
victim.
(b) A permanent criminal stalking
injunction shall be issued by the court
without a hearing unless the
defendant requests a hearing at the time of the conviction. The court shall give
the defendant notice of the right to request a hearing.
(c) If the defendant requests a hearing under Subsection (9)(b), it
shall be
held at the time of the conviction
unless the victim requests otherwise, or for good cause.
(d) If the conviction was entered in a justice court, a certified
copy of the
judgment and conviction or a
certified copy of the court's order holding the plea in abeyance must be filed
by the victim in the district court as an application and request for a hearing
for a permanent criminal stalking
injunction.
(10)
A
permanent criminal stalking
injunction may grant the following relief:
(a)
an
order:
(i)
restraining the defendant from
entering the residence, property, school, or place of employment of the victim;
and
(ii)
requiring the defendant to stay
away from the victim and members of the victim's immediate family or household
and to stay away from any specified place that is named in the order and is
frequented regularly by the victim; and
(b)
an
order restraining the defendant from making contact with or regarding the
victim, including an order forbidding the defendant from personally or through
an agent initiating any communication likely to cause annoyance or alarm to the
victim, including personal, written, or telephone contact with or regarding the
victim, with the victim's employers, employees, coworkers, friends, associates,
or others with whom communication would be likely to cause annoyance or alarm to
the victim.
(11)
A
permanent criminal stalking
injunction may be dissolved or dismissed only upon application of the victim to
the court which granted the injunction.
(12)
Notice
of permanent criminal stalking
injunctions issued pursuant to this section shall be sent by the court to the
statewide warrants network or similar system.
(13)
A
permanent criminal stalking
injunction issued pursuant to this section has effect
statewide.
(14)
(a) Violation of an
injunction issued pursuant to this section constitutes a
third degree felony offense of stalking
under Subsection (7).
(b) Violations may be enforced
in a civil action initiated by the stalking
victim, a criminal action initiated by a
prosecuting attorney, or both.
(15)
This
section does not preclude the filing of a criminal information for stalking
based on the same act which is the basis for the violation of the stalking
injunction issued pursuant to Title 77, Chapter 3a, Stalking
Injunctions, or a permanent criminal stalking
injunction.
Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-106. Harassment.
(1995)
(1)
A
person is guilty of harassment
if, with intent to frighten or harass another, he communicates a written or
recorded threat to commit any violent felony.
(2)
Harassment is a class B
misdemeanor.
Utah Code Ann. § 76-9-201. Electronic
communication harassment -- Definitions –
Penalties. (2005)
(1)
As used
in this section:
(a)
"Electronic communication" means
any communication by electronic, electro-mechanical, or electro-optical
communication device for the transmission and reception of audio, image, or text
but does not include broadcast transmissions or similar communications that are
not targeted at any specific individual.
(b)
"Electronic communication device"
includes telephone, facsimile, electronic mail, or pager.
(2)
A
person is guilty of electronic communication harassment
and subject to prosecution in the jurisdiction where the communication
originated or was received if with intent to annoy, alarm, intimidate, offend,
abuse, threaten, harass, frighten, or disrupt the electronic communications of
another, the person:
(a)
(i) makes repeated contact by means of electronic
communications,
whether or not a
conversation ensues; or
(ii) after the recipient has requested or
informed the person not to
contact the recipient,
and the person repeatedly or
continuously:
(A) contacts
the electronic communication device of the
recipient;
or
(B) causes an
electronic communication device of the recipient
to ring or to receive other
notification of attempted contact by means of electronic
communication;
(b)
makes
contact by means of electronic communication and insults, taunts, or challenges
the recipient of the communication or any person at the receiving location in a
manner likely to provoke a violent or disorderly response;
(c)
makes
contact by means of electronic communication and threatens to inflict injury,
physical harm, or damage to any person or the property of any person;
or
(d)
causes
disruption, jamming, or overload of an electronic communication system through
excessive message traffic or other means utilizing an electronic communication
device.
(3)
Electronic communication harassment
is a class B misdemeanor.
This
section does not create any civil cause of action based on electronic
communications made for legitimate business purposes.