Laurice Critchlow is advocating for the creation of a public registry for repeat domestic violence offenders in Utah. The proposal, known as Morgan's Law, follows the 2023 death of Critchlow's daughter, Morgan Kay Harris.

The three prior convictions of Alex Wardell

The impetus for this legislative push stems from a violent incident on February 18, 2023, at a CubeSmart Storage facility in Murray, Utah. according to the report, the Utah Attorney General's Office alleges that Morgan Kay Harris was murdered by her boyfriend, Alex Wardell, who allegedly locked her inside a storage unit before it caught fire.

The tragedy is compounded by the defendant's history of violence. As 2News Investigates reported, Alex Wardell had been convicted of domestic violence on three separate occasions years before the death of Morgan Kay Harris, with those cases involving two different former girlfriends.. This pattern of behavior is what Laurice Critchlow argues makes a public registry a necessity for community safety.

How Morgan's Law mirrors the sex offender registry

Morgan's Law is designed to function as a transparency tool, modeled closely after the existing sex offender registry. The proposed system would allow the public to search for convicted repeat domestic violence offenders to identify potential red flags before a relationship escalates into violence.

If implemented in Utah, the registry would provide critical identifying information for offenders. The report says the database would include the offender's full name, a photograph, their date of birth, and a detailed history of their convictions. Laurice Critchlow believes that having this information readily available could have saved her daughter's life by alerting her to Alex Wardell's history.

Tennessee's January 1 launch of the Persistent Domestic Violence Offender Registry

Utah's proposed law is not without precedent, as it draws direct inspiration from a recent move in Tennessee. On January 1, Tennessee officially launched the nation's first public "Persistent Domestic Violence Offender Registry," a systtem created following the killing of Deputy Savanna Puckett.

The Tennessee model is managed by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), which receives necessary data from county clerks. To be listed on this registry, an individual must have at least one conviction against a domestic abuse victim. This approach reflects a growing trend in several U.S. states to treat domestic violence as a predictable pattern of escalation rather than a series of isolated events.

Whether Utah officials will adopt the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's criteria

While the goals of Morgan's Law are clear, several specific details regarding its implementation in Utah remain unknown. It is currently unclear if a formal bill has been introduced to the Utah State Legislature or if the proposal is still in the advocacy stage. Furthermore, the report does not indicate whether the Utah Attorney General's Office has officially endorsed the registry as a policy tool, despite their role in prosecuting Alex Wardell.

There is also the question of how Utah would define a "repeat" offender compared to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's threshold of a single conviction. Whether the state will require multiple convictions or follow the Tennessee model of including anyone with at least one domestic abuse conviction will be a pivotal point of debate for lawmakers and civil liberties advocates.