Name: Blocking border crossings for underage marriages is aim of Utah lawmaker
Uploaded: 2026-01-17T04:17:24.239Z
Duration: 2 min 25 s
Description: Blocking border crossings for underage marriages is aim of Utah lawmaker

Blocking border crossings for underage marriages is aim of Utah lawmaker

Salt Lake City

A new bill introduced in the Utah Legislature seeks to make it a crime to take a minor out of state for the purpose of marriage. Representative Melissa Garth Ballard, who sponsored the bill, clarified that it does not alter existing Utah marriage laws but aims to prevent individuals from bypassing them by arranging out-of-state marriages for minors.

The legislation is broadly intended to address human trafficking and the manipulation of minors through social media, issues that have been linked to underage marriages in Utah, including within polygamous communities. The bill will be reviewed during the upcoming 45-day legislative session, with anti-human trafficking groups and advocates indicating they plan to study the proposal before offering feedback.

I just, I miss them every day and pray that we'll be able to find them and return them home. Elizabeth Roundy hasn't seen some of her Children in years. She has custody rights, but as an ex member of the fundamentalist LDS Church, they've disappeared. It's an issue law enforcement is aware of. She says she's concerned her daughter could get caught up in an underage marriage. We have report after report of Utah being the crossroads of drugs, human trafficking, sex trafficking. And right now with social media, it's so prevalent with individuals coercing minors to get married or to meet me and I'll get married so that you can come and get away from your families. And it's very manipulative. I'm Ben Winslow on Utah's Capitol Hill. Representative Melissa Garth Ballard has introduced a new bill here in the Legislature that creates a crime of taking a minor out of state for a marriage. I'm not changing any of the Utah marriage laws. I'm just saying if you are trying to go around the marriage laws or if you are someone who comes and takes a minor out of our state for those purposes, that's a problem. This is really to protect Utah minors. Representative Ballard says her bill is more broadly aimed at human trafficking and social media but could apply to Utah's polygamous communities where underage marriages have been a problem in the past. Utah law says people can get married at 16 with parental consent and the judge's permission. Representative Ballard says she isn't planning to change that. This is really to say we do not want you in Utah to violate Utah marriage laws or try to go around them by just taking a minor out of state and then returning. Roundy says she does believe such a bill can be helpful. I'm really grateful that people are taking the initiative and trying to help us out. And I, it's my hope and prayer. It will help to protect all our young Children from all this underage marriages that are illegal and terrible. Now, anti human trafficking groups and advocates who work with people in polygamous communities say they want to study the bill before weighing in. It will be considered when the 45 day legislative session kicks off next week. Anyone with information on Roundy's Children is asked to call police on the hill. Ben Winslow, Fox 13 News, Utah.

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