A Utah lawmaker has proposed a bill that would determine the number of inmates in its prisons and jails who have a substance use disorder — a first step that could ensure inmates get the treatment they need and a move that the bill’s sponsor says will one day pay dividends in reducing recidivism.
Sen. Jen Plumb’s bill, SB115, would require jail and prison staff to screen inmates for substance misuse by asking a series of questions meant to suss out problems, such as “Have you ever driven a car under the influence of a substance?” or “Have you ever lost a job related to your usage of substances?”
The data collected from these screenings would then be used to inform future decisions in Utah jails and prisons.
“If we’re actually going to be serious about addressing the problem,” said Plumb, D-Salt Lake City, “we need to know how widespread it is. We need to identify who those folks are, and we need to start thinking about what the next steps look like.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Sen. Jen Plumb, D-Salt Lake City, presents her bill, SB 115 Substance Use Disorder Revisions, in the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Feb 18, 2025.
The proposal also would allow Utah to qualify for federal Medicaid funds to treat such inmates 90 days prior to their release, Plumb said, so that when they are released, they are better prepared to succeed.
Lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee approved the bill Tuesday afternoon, voting 7-1 to recommend it for consideration by the full House. It had already passed through its Senate committee and floor vote.
While the bill has many supporters, including from the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice and the Salt Lake Legal Defender Association, there is some concern the proposal doesn’t go far enough.
The worry hinges on a one-word change from the bill’s initial draft to the substitute that the committee approved Tuesday: Replacing a use of “shall” with “may.”
The power of one word
Prior to his arrest in March 2023, Colin Conner had been receiving medication-assisted treatment to help stave off withdrawal symptoms and stay off illegal drugs.
But once he arrived at the jail, he stopped receiving his usual dose of methadone. As he languished in withdrawal, he lost his tolerance.
And, while he was court-ordered in April 2023 to be released early to a substance misuse treatment facility to get back on track, he was instead released to the street for time served early one Saturday morning in June 2023.
With no one to make sure he went to treatment, he returned to his old stomping grounds near the Central Ninth neighborhood, where he died less than a week after from a lethal combination of fentanyl and methamphetamine.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Litter is seen in an alleyway on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024, at the approximate location where Colin Conner was found dead in June 2023.
If he had been allowed to continue taking methadone, and not lose his tolerance, Conner’s father, Jon Tyler Conner, thinks the 32-year-old would still be alive.
Plumb’s updated bill includes language on providing medication-assisted treatment (often referred to by the shorthand “MAT”) to inmates who are found to have substance use disorder. It now says correctional staff “may” make it available. It previously said “shall.”
“That,” Conner’s father said, “is the difference between life and death.”
Jon Tyler Conner, who goes by Ty, has been reaching out to Plumb and bill’s House sponsor, Rep. Steve Eliason, urging them to reinstate the original language.
“A two-month incarceration could become an opportunity for stability, recovery, and life,” Ty Conner said in one email. “But if MAT is withheld, that same two months turns into a near-certain death sentence.”
Plumb told him, in an email obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune, that such a revision would not happen this session.
She explained further during Tuesday’s hearing, saying it’s a matter of fiscal responsibility.
“It just wouldn’t be responsible,” Plumb said, “because we wouldn’t actually, honestly, even know what those dollar signs and numbers and impact on our systems would be.”
Plumb conceded that she understood the concern; she added that nothing in the bill precludes jails from providing such treatment if they can.
“I’m probably as sensitive as anyone as to why [medication-assisted treatment] is so crucial,” she said, “but I also have to be realistic about incremental change and also about the resources that it would take.”
Stop the ‘hemorrhaging’
After his son’s death, Ty Conner began combing through jail records to find others he believed could have slipped through the same crack Colin fell through.
He said he has found dozens who fit the criteria — those booked on low-level drug offenses who are released for time served after being in incarcerated for longer than a month.
He recently filed a class action lawsuit on Colin’s behalf, as well as any other inmates who were court-ordered to treatment but street-released anyway. The lawsuit asks for an injunction to stop the jail from “continuing its practice whereby it ignores court orders to release inmates to residential treatment,” plus damages.
“We’ve got to get the hemorrhaging to stop and do the right thing,” Ty Conner said, “and make sure that they treat individuals appropriately in jail.”
The Salt Lake County jail, through a spokesperson, declined to comment on the pending litigation. They have not yet filed an answer to the complaint.
(Conner family) Colin Conner photographed in 2015.
