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- A Utah House committee approved a bill criminalizing attaching objects to political signs.
- Rep. Jordan Teuscher introduced the bill after his campaign signs were vandalized during the recent campaign cycle.
- The bill now heads to the House floor for further consideration.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah House committee gave the thumbs up to a bill that would criminalize attaching objects to political signs in yards or public spaces, after the sponsor's campaign signs were vandalized last year.
"One of the things we saw this last election cycle is the use of ... some creative ways to deface political signs that we haven't seen necessarily in the past," Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, told the House Government Operations Committee Friday afternoon.
It's already a class B misdemeanor to remove, alter, deface or otherwise vandalize a sign, but HB292 would make it a crime to attach items to a political sign that change or obstruct the message being promoted. The bill does allow candidates, their campaigns or the person who places a political sign to modify the message — as seen when supporters of Phil Lyman's gubernatorial campaign added "write in" to his campaign signs across the state.
It also makes it a class A misdemeanor to affix signs on utility poles, light poles, electric utility boxes and road signs, something Teuscher said is already prohibited by most city ordinances, but it's included in the bill to make it more visible for political campaigns.
"A lot of candidates that are running for office aren't going into the municipal code to read that," he said.
The proposal is a personal one for Teuscher, who recently had "vote out" signs attached to some of his own campaign signs in his district — something Rep. Matt MacPherson, R-West Valley City, playfully alluded to.
"I can't imagine why you would run a bill like this," he told Teuscher.
An original version of the bill would have also prohibited signs being placed directly in front of another sign to obscure the message, but Teuscher said that was removed because it could have raised concerns about violating freedom of expression. The latest version simply prohibits objects from being physically affixed to an existing sign.
"The remedy for that is for the original campaign to take their sign that's behind and put it in front of the other sign," Teuscher said.
Jennifer Garner, a former Republican state House candidate from Davis County, opposed the proposal, saying it should be left to the cities to legislate.
"I was a candidate, and I had signs stolen, and I just chalked it up to the cost of doing business," she said during the public comment period. "It's legislating criminal activity and increasing consequences for that. ... Maybe some education would be the better part of this instead of bringing down the hammer."
The bill passed unanimously and now heads to the House floor for consideration.
