As of July 2019, 39 states have enacted some form of sex offender residency laws restricting the distance sex offenders can live near places children congregate such as schools, parks, daycares, etc. 

Utah is among the 11 states who have yet to enact such a law. This petition is for Utah to finally enact a sex offender residency law that restricts registered offenders from working or living within 2,000 feet of schools, child care facilities, recreation centers, parks and playgrounds. This is in-line with the other states that have enacted such laws, see list here.  Read about current Utah law here. 

"In 1996, there were 248 sex offenders incarcerated by the Utah Department of Corrections. Today, there are 10 times that number, in the neighborhood of 2,500 at both the Point of the Mountain and the prison in Gunnison, making it by far the fastest-growing population at the prison." In Utah, a rape occurs every 6.25 hours and at least 35% of all prisoners are incarcerated for sex offense crimes. (Desert Times, November, 2018)  According to the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification yearly crime repots, rape crimes have increased for five years in a row. 

Utah is a family-centric state and needs to do more to protect the safety and innocence of our children. It is unacceptable to be within the top 20% of states that have no residency laws for sex offenders. We can and need to do better.