Bill would let people check criminal records before dating
Lara Wilson poses for a portrait Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, in front of 2nd District Court in Layton. Wilson is the driving force behind a proposal to allow people to look up criminal records before dating someone. Rep. Stephen Handy, R-Layton, says the bill would help women help themselves, learning whether a person has a domestic violence record.
Lara Wilson provided this undated photo of her after a domestic violence incident.
Jenna Nelson and Lara Wilson pose for a portrait Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, at the Layton Justice Center. Wilson, at right, is the driving force behind a proposal to allow people to look up criminal records before dating someone. Rep. Stephen Handy, R-Layton, says the bill would help women help themselves, learning whether a person has a domestic violence record. Nelson worked with Handy on a different victims' bill last year.
Lara Wilson and Jenna Nelson pose for a portrait Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, at Layton Commons Park. Wilson, at left, is the driving force behind a proposal to allow people to look up criminal records before dating someone. Rep. Stephen Handy, R-Layton, says the bill would help women help themselves, learning whether a person has a domestic violence record. Nelson worked with Handy on a different victims' bill last year.
LAYTON — Five years ago, Lara Wilson met a man who had a dark past he did not tell her about.
“He seemed like the perfect guy,” she said. “He went to church. We connected really quickly.”
But seven months in, the physical abuse started.
He eventually “admitted he had a problem with his ex-wife,” Wilson said.
“It’s information they don’t share when they meet you,” she said.
After a few years, the relationship ended, but not before Wilson had suffered several broken bones, endured three surgeries and sustained a heavy psychological toll.
She still copes with vocal damage she hopes is not permanent.
The man was convicted on domestic violence charges, and Wilson rebuilt her life. But she had lost a lot.
“And it’s not just the victims,” she said. “It’s also the children and the families that are damaged.”
One thing she wondered about: Would she have gotten involved with the man if she had known about his previous trouble?
The question nagged at her.
Then last year she met Jenna Nelson.
Wilson, a restaurant server, was waiting on Nelson, and they got talking.
Nelson told her about how she had been sexually abused as a teenager and years later realized perhaps the abuser could have been held accountable.
However, the statute of limitations had expired.
Still looking for justice, someone suggested Nelson call her state legislator.
She did, and after working with Rep. Stephen Handy, R-Layton, and testifying in the Utah Legislature, lawmakers last year passed House Bill 247, which lengthened the statute of limitations for the degree of crime she suffered.
Nelson told Wilson she should talk to Handy about her issue.
Could the state do something to protect people before they date?
During Wilson’s first meeting with Handy, they talked about creating a domestic violence offender registry, like the state’s registry for sex offenders.
As Handy recalled, “She said, ‘If I had only known about this guy, maybe I could have avoided this terrible experience. I want you to establish a domestic violence registry.'”
Handy next talked to officials with the Utah Commission of Criminal and Juvenile Justice.
“They all want to stop this horrible scourge in our society,” Handy said of state officials’ feelings on the matter.
But creating another registry could be a major effort, so Handy is working on a bill for this year’s legislative session to leverage an existing program.
It’s the state court system’s Xchange subscription program, a repository of district and justice court information. Police, lawyers, journalists and others use it to look up civil and criminal cases.
Handy said the current idea for his legislation is to give people a temporary opportunity to look up someone’s state court record.
“For a nominal fee, say $5,” Handy said.
If such a possibility had existed five years ago, Wilson could have looked up her intended and seen that he had been a defendant in a domestic violence case about a year earlier.
“It’s a troubling scenario,” Handy said. “Women are out there dating and they don’t have any protection until it’s too late and they find themselves becoming victims as well.”
He said being able to check Xchange could provide “something to tip them off, give them a hint they might want to be careful with this person.”
Nelson said working for the passage of HB 247 “gave me a voice that I didn’t feel I had before.”
That in turn, she said, gave her “courage to speak up and talk to Lara.”
“This girl is so much stronger that she realizes,” Nelson said of Wilson. “She is such a friendly person who doesn’t let the weight of the world diminish her smile. She is just an incredible survivor.”
In the depths of her trauma, Wilson went to Safe Harbor Crisis Center in Kaysville.
“That place was absolutely amazing,” she said. “If you’ve got nothing except the clothes on your back, they will take care of you.”
She said she’s still recovering, but it is happening.
“I’m remembering who I am now,” she said. “It’s kind of like waking up after a bad dream.”
Now, she is excited to be working with Handy on something that could protect other women from being victimized and also serve to hold perpetrators accountable.
And originating the concept for a state law is something she never would have imagined doing.
“I had no idea a normal person could so this,” she said.