Folks involved in identity theft would have a harder time getting away with it under provisions of some new draft legislation.
The Utah Technology Commission on Thursday passed out with a favorable recommendation a draft bill that "gives us additional tools and clarifies things," according to the sponsor, Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Sandy.
One provision establishes that Utah is the jurisdiction if ID theft victims live in the state, regardless of where the perpetrator is located. If the ID theft occurs in multiple county jurisdictions, the prosecution would be able to occur in any of those counties.
The draft eliminates ID fraud as a Class A misdemeanor, instead making it a third-degree felony if the value is less than $5,000 and second-degree if it's more than that amount.
It also calls for penalties for possessing identifying documents, including government-issued documents or vehicle registration certificates.
Obtaining or possessing such a document, or helping someone obtain or possess it, "with knowledge that he is not entitled to obtain or possess" it would be a Class A misdemeanor. If it involves more than one document, it would be a third-degree felony.
"One of the problems that police officers and others that were prosecuting identity theft have is that if they pulled over someone who had a bag full of driver's licenses and credit cards and other identifying documents belonging to other people, under current statutes they had to prove some intent to commit identify theft rather than charging them with possession of all of this different stuff," Walker said.
"Law enforcement told us there was obvious evidence of ID theft in vehicles that were stopped and there was no tool to enforce that."
Some commission members wondered if people simply finding a wallet containing documents would be subject to the bill provisions. Walker said that issue will be worked out.
Walker also said she will submit a bill that would pull Social Security numbers from driver's licenses. That topic came up during a recent ID theft summit. "I thought, well, that's a no-brainer. . . . That will be taken care of as simple housekeeping during the session as well," she said.
E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com