The Capitol rotunda is pictured on the first day of the legislative session in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
The Utah Legislature unveiled its final budget recommendations on Friday, which outlines how lawmakers plan on spending the state’s money.
Not included in that $30 billion list was the roughly $1.6 million that the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition asked for earlier this year to help shelters and victim service providers handle an increase in referrals, and to fund a program to help prosecute the most serious offenders.
Now, once again, advocates with the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition are spending the last week of the legislative session lobbying lawmakers to amend the list of budget recommendations. If they don’t, a program that allows law enforcement to conduct strangulation exams for victims of domestic violence could run out of funds.
“It’s all hands on deck to make sure everyone knows this program exists and what it does, and that it’s really a no-brainer to fund,” said Erin Jemison, director of public policy for the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition.
Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla said on Monday that there’s still a chance the funding could come through before the session ends on Friday.
“The pressure is there, and we’re all hopeful that some of this can be addressed,” said Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City.
The coalition prioritized two funding requests this year. One would direct about $1.4 million to various domestic violence shelters and service providers.
The other would funnel $260,000 in annual funds to help police departments around the state commission forensic medical exams in domestic violence cases that involve strangulation. The program is forecasted to cost more than $400,000, and the Domestic Violence Coalition is planning on fundraising to cover the difference.
The $1.4 million request was a big ask, and amid a tight budget year, Jemison says the coalition tempered expectations.
But the latter is a relatively small appropriation with the potential to make a big impact.
“Given the small amount, we had more hope,” said Jemison.
Data shows that domestic violence incidents that involve strangulation are one of the biggest indicators of potential lethality in a relationship. A 2009 study published in the National Library of Medicine found that non-fatal strangulation was present in 43% of intimate partner homicides, and 45% of attempted intimate partner homicides. Another study showed that being strangled by an intimate partner heightened the chances of homicide by 600%.
But law enforcement aren’t always equipped to handle these cases. Instead, they contract with highly specialized forensic experts who conduct a strangulation exam, while also providing important health care services to the victim.
Those forensic experts can act as expert witnesses during a trial, or provide prosecutors with a report that can add credibility to a victim’s testimony.
In 2022, lawmakers allocated $200,000 toward creating a program to reimburse law enforcement for the strangulation exams. And in 2024, they made another $200,000 appropriation to expand the program. In just four months, more than 80% of that funding was spent.
Jemison said a number of law enforcement agencies are now telling the Domestic Violence Coalition that they only conduct the exams in the most serious cases over concerns that the funding is running dry. If lawmakers don’t direct some money toward the program, it will end.
Senate Budget Chair Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, said the budget process is “still in motion” and that there’s a chance the program could be funded. When asked about it on Monday, he told reporters: “maybe.”
“There’s a little money we’re still working with,” Stevenson said.
Jemison said instead of ongoing funds, which would support the program annually, they could be getting more one-time funding. The coalition is “50% hopeful,” she said. If that’s the case, they’ll be back on capitol hill next year lobbying for more funding.
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