# Utah S.B. 278: State Debt Collection Amendments Utah S.B. 278, State Debt Collection Amendments, is a 2025 General Session Senate bill sponsored by Todd Weiler (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-03-19 (Governor Signed); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-17). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB278-2025GS - As of: 2026-10-17 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Utah S.B. 278 - State: Utah - Session: 2025 General Session - Title: State Debt Collection Amendments - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2025-02-13 - Last action: 2025-03-19, Governor Signed - Sponsor: Todd Weiler (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Business, Real Estate, Health and Human Services, Judicial Operations, Probate, Department of Government Operations, Government Operations (State Issues), Department of Health and Human Services, Title and Escrow, Division of Finance, Fiscal Procedures, Real Property, Civil Litigation - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 16 (127 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 6 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - State can garnish debtors’ wages: cost, high. Beginning May 7, 2025, Utah’s debt office can order third parties to turn over debtors’ wages or other personal property. This power covers specified debts after judgment, with an order signed by the office director or a designee. Wage withholding cannot exceed the lesser of 25% of disposable earni… - Estates face stronger state debt collection: cost, medium. Beginning May 7, 2025, probate courts must notify Utah’s debt office within 30 days after a probate filing for someone 18 or older. For someone 55 or older, courts must also notify the Office of Recovery Services about medical assistance recovery. Probate claim deadlines do not bar collection of sp… - Parents face longer child-representation fee collection: cost, medium. Beginning May 7, 2025, child-support enforcement periods also cover guardian ad litem attorney fees and costs included in support orders or judgments. These are fees for a court-appointed lawyer representing a child’s interests. Collection remains available for four years after the youngest child r… - Medical assistance recovery bypasses probate limits: cost, medium. Beginning May 7, 2025, specified medical assistance liens and recovery rights do not count as probate claims. Probate rules do not limit the Department of Health and Human Services’ recovery rights under the covered statute. Recovery from an affected estate can leave fewer assets for heirs. - State debts reach more Utah property: cost, medium. Beginning May 7, 2025, civil restitution judgments and specified civil accounts receivable count as judgments under property-lien rules. A qualifying state-agency judgment lien reaches all the debtor’s real property in Utah. State agencies remain exempt from the referenced recording requirement. Ut… - State agencies face flexible collection oversight: mixed, low. Beginning May 7, 2025, Utah’s debt office has more choice about providing training, technical help, collection policies, and performance reviews. It no longer must establish an automated cash-receipt process between state agencies. The office can require agencies to transfer collection work, make i… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Todd Weiler (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Doug Fiefia (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-03-05 | House | House/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 70 | 0 | | | 2025-02-27 | Senate | Senate/ uncircled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2025-02-27 | Senate | Senate/ circled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2025-02-27 | Senate | Senate/ uncircled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2025-02-27 | Senate | Senate/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 26 | 0 | | | 2025-02-26 | Senate | Senate/ circled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2025-02-25 | Senate | Senate/ passed 2nd reading | pass | 25 | 0 | | | 2025-02-25 | Senate | Senate/ uncircled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2025-02-24 | Senate | Senate/ circled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2025-02-19 | Senate | Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 6 | 0 | | | | Senate | Senate/ circled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | | Senate | Senate/ uncircled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | | Senate | Senate/ circled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | | Senate | Senate/ circled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | | Senate | Senate/ uncircled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | | Senate | Senate/ uncircled | fail | 0 | 0 | | ## Actions (36) - 2025-03-19: Governor Signed - 2025-03-13: Senate/ to Governor (Senate) - 2025-03-13: Senate/ received enrolled bill from Printing (Senate) - 2025-03-07: Senate/ enrolled bill to Printing (Senate) - 2025-03-07: Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate - 2025-03-06: Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared - 2025-03-06: Bill Received from Senate for Enrolling - 2025-03-06: Senate/ signed by President/ sent for enrolling (Senate) - 2025-03-06: Senate/ received from House (Senate) - 2025-03-05: House/ to Senate (House) - 2025-03-05: House/ signed by Speaker/ returned to Senate (House) - 2025-03-05: House/ passed 3rd reading (House) - 2025-03-05: House/ 3rd reading (House) - 2025-03-05: House/ 2nd reading (House) - 2025-03-05: House/ Rules to 3rd Reading Calendar (House) - 2025-03-05: House/ 1st reading (Introduced) (House) - 2025-03-05: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2025-02-27: Senate/ to House (Senate) - 2025-02-27: Senate/ passed 3rd reading (Senate) - 2025-02-27: Senate/ uncircled (Senate) - 2025-02-27: Senate/ circled (Senate) - 2025-02-27: Senate/ uncircled (Senate) - 2025-02-26: Senate/ circled (Senate) - 2025-02-26: Senate/ 3rd reading (Senate) - 2025-02-25: Senate/ passed 2nd reading (Senate) - 2025-02-25: Senate/ uncircled (Senate) - 2025-02-24: Senate/ circled (Senate) - 2025-02-24: Senate/ 2nd reading (Senate) - 2025-02-19: Senate/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst (Senate) - 2025-02-19: Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar (Senate) - 2025-02-19: Senate/ committee report favorable (Senate) - 2025-02-19: Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation (Senate) - 2025-02-18: Senate/ to standing committee (Senate) - 2025-02-14: Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced) (Senate) - 2025-02-14: Senate/ received bill from Legislative Research (Senate) - 2025-02-13: Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed ## Bill text - Enrolled, 2025-03-07: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/enrolled/SB0278.pdf) - Introduced, 2025-02-13: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/SB0278.pdf) ## Related bills - S.B. 199: Guardianship Amendments (signed) - H.B. 562: Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Amendments (signed) - H.B. 493: Medical Examiner Amendments (signed) - H.B. 482: Health and Human Services Reporting Requirements (signed) - S.B. 197: Property Tax Amendments (vetoed) - S.B. 3: Appropriations Adjustments (signed) ## Sources - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/enrolled/SB0278.pdf) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/SB0278.pdf) ## Related - [S.B. 199: Guardianship Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB199-2025GS) - [H.B. 562: Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB562-2025GS) - [H.B. 493: Medical Examiner Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB493-2025GS) - [H.B. 482: Health and Human Services Reporting Requirements](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB482-2025GS) - [S.B. 197: Property Tax Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB197-2025GS) - [S.B. 3: Appropriations Adjustments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB3-2025GS) - [Utah bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/utah/bills) - [Utah state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/utah) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB278-2025GS (as of 2026-10-17).