Utah school tip line law

Does Utah require a school tip line?

Yes. Utah law requires the Huntsman Mental Health Institute to set up the SafeUT Crisis Line, where anyone can anonymously report unsafe, violent or criminal activity, or threats of it, at or near a public school. The line also takes anonymous reports of bullying, cyber-bullying, harassment or hazing, and of physical or sexual abuse by a school employee or volunteer. Its services must be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Each local education agency (LEA) governing board must inform students, parents and school staff about the SafeUT Crisis Line.

Who runs it?

The Huntsman Mental Health Institute is the mental health and substance abuse treatment institute within University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics. The operator must develop a SafeUT app available in multiple languages, including Spanish. Subject to legislative funding, the operator must develop and roll out added school safety supports, working with the School Security Task Force, the state security chief and the School Safety Center. A SafeUT and School Safety Commission is chaired by the attorney general's designee, includes a member representing the Office of the Attorney General, and is staffed by that office. The commission coordinates with the State Board of Education and the Board of Higher Education to promote awareness of SafeUT. The subsection creating the commission is repealed January 1, 2030. The Attorney General's SafeUT page says the app is staffed by master's-level crisis counselors at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute around the clock; that is the agency's description, not statute.

How are tips routed?

When necessary or required by law, the operator must promptly forward reports to the appropriate school officials and law enforcement officials. The operator must report uses of the line to the State Bureau of Investigation's systems, coordinating with the state security chief on when a report is needed. The bureau's statewide information and intelligence center includes the SafeUT systems.

What must schools do?

Each district or charter school must use the state board's model conduct and discipline policies, where appropriate, in writing its own. The state board had to add SafeUT response procedures to those models by September 1, 2015. Conduct and discipline policies must include procedures for responding to reports received through SafeUT. A State Board of Education rule says an LEA discipline policy must include direction on the use of SafeUT, along with threat assessment and other supportive or emergency responses. Under another board rule, an LEA that has implemented SafeUT must name one or more SafeUT liaisons, who share SafeUT information with stakeholders, communicate with SafeUT and attend a yearly SafeUT training from the state superintendent. An LEA must have a policy that lets students use a cellphone, smart watch or similar device to reach the SafeUT Crisis Line. The state board's parent seminar curriculum must include information on SafeUT.

Who is covered?

The line covers reports about activity at or near a public school. In Utah's public education code (Titles 53E, 53F and 53G), an LEA is a school district, a charter school or the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, so LEA duties in those titles, such as the device policy, cover charter schools. The operator may charge colleges, universities or other entities a fee to use the line.

Are tips anonymous and confidential?

The statute describes SafeUT as a way to report anonymously. The Attorney General's SafeUT page says SafeUT takes anonymous tips and that all chats are confidential; that is agency guidance, not a statute or rule. An LEA bullying policy may not allow formal discipline based only on an anonymous report of bullying, cyber-bullying, hazing, abusive conduct or retaliation.

What about false reports?

Each LEA's bullying, hazing, abusive conduct and retaliation policy must prohibit making a false report of those acts; this is a school policy rule, not a criminal penalty.

What data is reported?

The SafeUT statute's reporting duty is to report uses of the line to the State Bureau of Investigation's systems; these provisions set no annual report to the Legislature.

How is it funded?

The operator may not charge the State Board of Education or an LEA to use the line. The state board may use student health and counseling support money for SafeUT. 2026 SB 1 lists $4,100,400 for SafeUT in the fiscal 2027 University of Utah Special Projects line item. 2026 SB 8 lists $185,900 for SafeUT in a fiscal 2027 University of Utah Special Projects item. 2026 SB 3 lists a one-time $49,000 for SafeUT for fiscal 2026.

What changed recently?

2026 SB 311 added the multi-language SafeUT app duty and was signed by the Governor on March 19, 2026. The current SafeUT section was last amended by Chapter 238 of the 2026 General Session. 2026 HB 44, which carries the SafeUT device-use exception, was signed by the Governor on March 19, 2026. 2026 SB 322, the Educational Technology Regulatory Sandbox bill, which would have tied pilot crisis-response tools to SafeUT, did not pass; its last action was on March 6, 2026.