Family Court Reform
I'm working with constituents on three specific problems in Utah's family courts: contested custody cases that cost tens of thousands of dollars, custody orders that police won't enforce, and a child welfare system that both misses real danger and separates families who didn't need separating. Each one gets its own fix, not a one-size-fits-all overhaul.
Capping the Cost of Custody Battles: Attorneys, custody evaluators, and guardians ad litem all bill by the hour, and every extra motion or hearing means more fees for both parents, win or lose. Nothing today stops a parent with more money from simply outlasting the other side. I'm proposing a required, plain-language cost estimate before a guardian ad litem or evaluator is appointed, and letting judges shift fees onto a parent found to be litigating in bad faith.
A Fast Lane for Custody Order Enforcement: Utah has a law against interfering with custody, but police and prosecutors almost never use it outside extreme cases like a parent fleeing the state. For everyday violations, a parent has to go back to court and wait weeks or months for a hearing on a case that was already decided. Oregon guarantees a hearing within 45 days for exactly this problem, with real consequences for the violating parent. I'll bring that same expedited process to Utah.
Fixing DCFS Where It's Actually Broken: Utah's own 2026 audit found children left in dangerous homes for weeks and, separately, families wrongly investigated over false or minor claims. Both trace back to the same cause: caseworkers stretched across low-risk poverty cases and unfounded reports have less time for the small number of genuinely dangerous ones. I'm proposing that poverty-only cases get routed away from full investigations, and a pilot giving parents a lawyer and social worker early on, a model that's cut foster care time by a quarter to nearly half elsewhere with no drop in child safety.