In almost every state across the US, the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) you can legally operate a motor vehicle with is the same–0.08. However, that is well above the legal limit in Utah. In the Beehive State, it is not legal to drive a vehicle if you have a BAC of 0.05 or greater.

While the Beehive State isn’t known for violence, the one violent crime that is higher than the national average is rape. If you live in Utah, you likely know a rape survivor. Almost 20% of women and 6.5% of men in the state are statistically likely to be victims of rape in their lifetime.

You’ve likely heard the terms assault and battery before. They are generally associated with crime stories in which a person causes a non-fatal injury to another. Both terms have negative connotations and they almost seem interchangeable. In many states, there is a difference, but Utah approaches the law differently.

Thousands of campfires are ablaze every night in Utah thanks to the season of s’mores, scary stories, and late-night chats under the stars. Camping trips and backyard parties around the fire pit are a blast, but can also be where some of the most devastating fires start.

In Utah, you can be convicted of one of three different types of crimes: infractions, misdemeanors, and felonies. Each one of them comes with its own level of punishment. The most severe are felonies. 

The state of Utah has ultimate jurisdiction on criminal law that takes place within its borders. This means that criminal cases in surrounding states — like Colorado and Nevada — don’t usually have anything to do with what happens in the Beehive State and vice versa.

One of the biggest misconceptions about people who have been convicted of a crime is that change is completely impossible. In reality, people do get out of prison and decide that they will not go back to that life again. They seek counseling. They quit harmful substances. They volunteer. They tell their story as a cautionary tale, so young people don’t end up with the same fate. They remedy their relationships with family and friends.‍

The most common crime in the state of Utah is also the most common crime in the United States — larceny, which is simply another word for “theft.” According to Pew Research Center, the U.S. experienced 1,401.9 cases per 100,000 people in 2022. That is a lot of cases. If we were to assume that every single one of them were committed by a different person, that would be about 1.4% of the population. 

No one wants to get arrested, and many people think they won’t ever get arrested. However, it’s impossible to predict if you will get arrested, even if you are innocent. Sometimes people are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. According to the Utah Department of Public Safety, there were over 75,000 adult arrests and 8,000 juvenile arrests in Utah during 2020. You can think of that as more than 80,000 reasons to know what to do in case you get arrested. So here are five things you should do if you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of getting arrested in Utah.