Lawmakers will convene working group to review policy in light of Stuart Adams controversy

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Lawmakers will review Utah's criminal justice policy amid a controversy involving Senate President Stuart Adams.
Adams faces calls to resign over law inspired by a plea deal his granddaughter received.
House Speaker Mike Schultz defends bill process but agrees to policy review with Adams.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers will convene a group of stakeholders to review state policy around criminal justice as the top Senate Republican has faced calls to resign over claims a recent law he inspired helped his granddaughter reach a plea bargain in a criminal case.

President Stuart Adams has rejected calls for his resignation and defended his decision not to disclose his personal connection to the bill as it was debated and passed into law early last year.

Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, on Friday defended the process of passing the bill as "transparent to legislators, stakeholders and the public," but said he believes the policy should be reviewed.

"With the recent heightened attention on SB213, I believe it's important to reconvene stakeholders for further discussion to ensure we arrived at the right policy," Schultz said in a statement to KSL.com. "I have spoken with President Adams, and he agrees. We will convene a working group to conduct a comprehensive review of state policy in this area to ensure our laws protect public safety, uphold accountability and serve the best interests of all Utahns."

Schultz did not elaborate about who would be involved, when the discussions would take place, or what possible changes lawmakers might consider.

"A thoughtful review of SB213 will ensure our policies remain grounded in safety and fairness," Adams stated. "I welcome the opportunity for a working group to ensure our laws are thoughtful and reflect Utah's values."

Adams, R-Layton, had previously said he did not influence the bill and called the process "perfect."

A provision of SB213 — which allows 18-year-old high school students to face lesser criminal charges than child rape if they engage in noncoercive sexual activity with teenagers under the age of 14 — was initiated by Adams, though he did not sponsor the bill or acknowledge that his granddaughter was facing charges after having sex with a 13-year-old. She was an adult but still in high school at the time.

The change allows 18-year-old high schoolers to be charged with a third-degree felony for unlawful sexual activity with a child.

Although the law was not made retroactive, the "legislative intent" was referenced during the woman's sentencing hearing in August of 2024, and 2nd District Judge Rita Cornish said she still had to "grapple" with the change. Adams' granddaughter was originally charged with two counts of child rape and two counts of child sodomy, first-degree felonies, but ultimately pleaded guilty to a second-degree felony and three counts of sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor.

Adams said SB213 was not meant to have an impact on his granddaughter's case, and said he made the right call by not disclosing his connection. Given his position in the Senate, he argues it would have unfairly influenced the legislative process if he had told his colleagues about his granddaughter, saying: "There's nothing unusual about how this bill came about."

"This is either the right policy or it's not, you know?" said Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Draper, the sponsor of SB213 and the only lawmaker who knew of Adams' connection at the time it was debated.

One Democratic state senator and the chairman of the Utah Democratic Party have called on Adams to resign, with Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Salt Lake City, alleging Adams had given "special treatment" to his relative. Blouin told KSL.com it would be "unfair to expect perfection in every decision" made by the part-time Legislature and called the process "messy and opaque."

"I do not expect to agree with each policy that becomes law, but Utahns should be able to trust that our institutions are not shaped by such abuses of power, and our credibility should not be jeopardized by cover-ups that take advantage of the rush to pass legislation," he said. "Acknowledging and correcting the mistake made here confirms the need to address our work with more humility, transparency and truthfulness."

Reviewing the policy "is a clear admission that this was an imperfect process, contrary to what Adams claimed," party Chairman Brian King said Friday. "This is window dressing to cover up the abuse of power by President Adams. Clearly, Speaker Schultz is feeling the pressure. He could just do the right thing and ask President Adams to resign."

Adams is also facing calls to resign or apologize for the bill from his right flank, as a group of conservative activists plans to rally outside the state Capitol on Sunday. Jason Preston, a GOP congressional candidate in 2022 and host of "We Are the People Radio," called the change "an abuse of your power" in a YouTube video uploaded last week.

"Any predator who's preying on children, we should be throwing the books at them, not minimizing things," he said. "This is an issue, and victims are being trampled on in order to protect the reputation of our state, protecting the reputation of our institutions."

Mike Glover, a veteran and activist, said there is not a "greater crime than the abuse of children. I put my life on the line for this country and am calling on all men in Utah to stand for the protection of children."

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.