---
type: "Bill"
title: "S.B. 163 Child Welfare Modifications"
description: "S.B. 163 Child Welfare Modifications"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ut"
legislature: "Utah Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 163"
citation: "Utah SB 163 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Abuse", "Neglect", "or Dependency", "Child Custody/Parent Time", "Child Welfare", "Courts", "Department of Health and Human Services", "Division of Child and Family Services", "Family", "Foster Care", "Human Services", "Judicial Administration", "Judicial Operations", "Juveniles", "Parental Defense"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Harper, Wayne A."]
version_count: 2
action_count: 49
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2023-01-31"
last_action: "2023-03-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2875a750-214b-4120-a377-29a79882712a"
source_url: "https://le.utah.gov/~2023/bills/static/SB0163.html"
source_hash: "8ca9cddf4f4615c1d4fb52871fcdb3845c7d746cde35bb6f4c7535d01393de4c"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ut"]
---

# Utah SB 163 (2023) — S.B. 163 Child Welfare Modifications

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/~2023/bills/sbillint/SB0163S01.pdf)
2. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/~2023/bills/sbillenr/SB0163.pdf)

## Votes

- passed 3rd reading — **25–0** (pass) · upper
- failed — **26–48** (fail) · lower
- passed 2nd reading — **24–0** (pass) · upper
- House Comm - Favorable Recommendation — **8–0** (pass) · upper
- Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation — **3–0** (pass) · upper
- concurs with House amendment — **24–0** (pass) · upper
- passed 3rd reading — **72–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Harper, Wayne A. — primary (person)
- Lisonbee, Karianne — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-01-31** Bill Numbered but not Distributed
- **2023-01-31** Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed
- **2023-02-01** received bill from Legislative Research `receipt`
- **2023-02-01** 1st reading (Introduced) `introduction, reading-1`
- **2023-02-01** to Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee
- **2023-02-06** Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-02-07** committee report favorable `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-02-07** placed on 2nd Reading Calendar
- **2023-02-13** 2nd reading `reading-2`
- **2023-02-13** passed 2nd reading `reading-2`
- **2023-02-13** received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst `receipt`
- **2023-02-14** 3rd reading `reading-3`
- **2023-02-14** passed 3rd reading `passage`
- **2023-02-14** to House
- **2023-02-14** received from Senate `receipt`
- **2023-02-14** 1st reading (Introduced) `introduction, reading-1`
- **2023-02-15** to House Judiciary Committee
- **2023-02-21** House Comm - Favorable Recommendation `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-02-21** committee report favorable `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-02-21** return to Rules due to fiscal impact
- **2023-02-28** Rules to 3rd Reading Calendar
- **2023-02-28** 2nd reading `reading-2`
- **2023-02-28** 3rd reading `reading-3`
- **2023-02-28** failed `failure`
- **2023-02-28** to Senate
- **2023-02-28** motion to reconsider
- **2023-02-28** circled
- **2023-03-01** uncircled
- **2023-03-01** substituted from # 0 to # 1 `substitution`
- **2023-03-01** passed 3rd reading `passage`
- **2023-03-01** to Senate
- **2023-03-01** received from House `receipt`
- **2023-03-01** placed on Concurrence Calendar
- **2023-03-01** fiscal note sent to sponsor
- **2023-03-02** fiscal note publicly available
- **2023-03-02** concurs with House amendment `amendment-passage`
- **2023-03-02** to House
- **2023-03-02** received from Senate `receipt`
- **2023-03-02** signed by Speaker/returned to Senate `passage`
- **2023-03-02** to Senate
- **2023-03-02** received from House `receipt`
- **2023-03-02** signed by President/sent for enrolling `passage`
- **2023-03-03** Bill Received from Senate for Enrolling
- **2023-03-03** Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared
- **2023-03-09** Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate `enrolled`
- **2023-03-09** enrolled bill to Printing
- **2023-03-13** received enrolled bill from Printing `receipt`
- **2023-03-13** to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-03-15** Governor Signed `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/2875a750-214b-4120-a377-29a79882712a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Utah legislature records).