§ 76-8-309. Escape and aggravated escape -- Consecutive sentences -- Definitions.

(1)

(a)

(i) A prisoner is guilty of escape if he leaves official custody without lawful authorization.

(ii) If a prisoner obtains authorization to leave official custody by means of deceit, fraud, or other artifice, the prisoner has not received lawful authorization.

(b) Escape under this Subsection (1) is a third degree felony except as provided under Subsection (1)(c).

(c) Escape under this Subsection (1) is a second degree felony if:

(i) the actor escapes from a state prison; or

(ii)

(A) the actor is convicted as a party to the offense, as defined in Section 76-2-202; and

(B) the actor is an employee at or a volunteer of a law enforcement agency, the Department of Corrections, a county or district attorney's office, the office of the state attorney general, the Board of Pardons and Parole, or the courts, the Judicial Council, the Office of the Court Administrator, or similar administrative units in the judicial branch of government.

(2)

(a) A prisoner is guilty of aggravated escape if in the commission of an escape he uses a dangerous weapon, as defined in Section 76-1-601, or causes serious bodily injury to another.

(b) Aggravated escape is a first degree felony.

(3) Any prison term imposed upon a prisoner for escape under this section shall run consecutively with any other sentence.

(4) For the purposes of this section:

(a) "Confinement" means the prisoner is:

(i) housed in a state prison or any other facility pursuant to a contract with the Utah Department of Corrections after being sentenced and committed and the sentence has not been terminated or voided or the prisoner is not on parole;

(ii) lawfully detained in a county jail prior to trial or sentencing or housed in a county jail after sentencing and commitment and the sentence has not been terminated or voided or the prisoner is not on parole; or

(iii) lawfully detained following arrest.

(b) "Escape" is considered to be a continuing activity commencing with the conception of the design to escape and continuing until the escaping prisoner is returned to official custody or the prisoner's attempt to escape is thwarted or abandoned.

(c) "Official custody" means arrest, whether with or without warrant, or confinement in a state prison, jail, institution for secure confinement of juvenile offenders, or any confinement pursuant to an order of the court or sentenced and committed and the sentence has not been terminated or voided or the prisoner is not on parole. A person is considered confined in the state prison if he:

(i) without authority fails to return to his place of confinement from work release or home visit by the time designated for return;

(ii) is in prehearing custody after arrest for parole violation;

(iii) is being housed in a county jail, after felony commitment, pursuant to a contract with the Department of Corrections; or

(iv) is being transported as a prisoner in the state prison by correctional officers.

(d) "Prisoner" means any person who is in official custody and includes persons under trusty status.

(e) "Volunteer" means any person who donates service without pay or other compensation except expenses actually and reasonably incurred as approved by the supervising agency.

Amended by Chapter 274, 2004 General Session