SALT LAKE CITY — Governor Spencer Cox has signed a major piece of legislation on domestic violence into law.
The governor signed Senate Bill 117, which now requires all police agencies in Utah to conduct what's called a "lethality assessment" when officers respond to a domestic violence call. At a private event on Monday, the family of Mandy Mayne was invited to watch the signing.
"We're just excited," Mayne's mother, Shauna, told FOX 13 News afterward.
A lethality assessment is a series of questions asked of a possible victim of intimate partner violence to determine their risk of being a victim of homicide.
"If they answer yes, then immediately put the victim in contact with services that could help them," said SB117's sponsor, Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross.
Mandy Mayne was killed in murder-suicide last year at a Taylorsville bus stop. She is a cousin of Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson, who started looking at gaps in Utah's systems for victims of intimate partner violence. Mayne's family believes legislation like this could have saved her life, had it been in place when she needed help.
"We were lucky enough to have somebody in our family that was there that had a few connections," said Mandy's brother, Amos Mayne. "And as she shared the story — Sen. Weiler, they came together with a bill ... it’s impressive to me that they found something that could be done."
The bill also had the support of Gabby Petito's family, who flew to Utah during the legislative session to urge lawmakers to pass it.
"If Gabby Petito had been asked these questions? There might have been a different result there," Sen. Weiler said.
Right now, victim advocates estimate only half of all the police agencies in Utah conduct lethality assessments. The new law requires all of them to do it.
"I'm looking forward to the day when every single law enforcement entity in this state conducts lethality assessments on domestic violence victims," Lt. Gov. Henderson told FOX 13 News on Monday. "To this day there are some big ones that don't do it. It's really inexcusable and I'm looking forward to the time they have to do it."
The bill also requires the assessments be tracked so an officer responding to a domestic violence call knows what they are getting into. Along with this, the Utah State Legislature appropriated millions of dollars to expand victim services statewide.
"I'm confident it will help other families in the future... and save lives," Shauna Mayne said.
- Utah Domestic Violence Coalition:
- Hotline: 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
- Online help: udvc.org
- National Domestic Violence Hotline
- 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
- Online live chat: thehotline.org
- If you or someone else is in immediate danger, or in an emergency, call 9-1-1 immediately.
