Utah current-law reading guide
Utah has a specific monitoring-device statute, but its definition is narrower than the everyday word “camera.” This guide separates the written notice, roommate consent, device limits, and facility duties in the current sources from the private legal and care decisions a family still has to resolve.
The useful bottom line
Section 26B-2-236 allows a resident or the resident's legal representative to operate or install a statutorily defined monitoring device when the section's conditions are satisfied. The same law excludes a device connected to the Internet or set up to transmit data via an electronic communication from that definition. It also says that, under this part and without a court order, an individual may not operate a device in secret or with an interception intent without notice to or consent of a party to the communication. That is not blanket authorization under other laws. A product marketed as a home camera does not answer those legal questions.
Start with the setting and the exact device
§26B-2-236(1)(a)(i)
The statute's definition of “facility” includes an assisted-living facility. The current DLBC checklist applies the admission and employee-interference duties to Utah Type I and Type II assisted-living licensees.
§26B-2-236(1)(a)(ii)
The definition separately includes a secure memory-care unit inside a nursing care facility or another medical or mental-health facility. That does not turn every nursing-home room into the same statutory setting.
§26B-2-236(1)(c)
It includes a video-surveillance camera or an audio-capturing device, but excludes a device connected to the Internet, set up to transmit data electronically, or specifically intended to intercept communications without notice or consent.
§26B-2-236(1)(e)
The definition covers the resident's private or shared primary living space. This guide does not extend that definition to a hallway, common area, staff space, or another location.
Important device boundary
The current statute expressly removes an internet-connected or electronically transmitting device from its monitoring-device definition. A microphone or other audio-capturing device is expressly included in the initial definition, while a device specifically intended to intercept wire, electronic, or oral communications without notice to or consent of a party is excluded. Audio capture is therefore not the same issue as Internet connectivity. Haven cannot determine from a product name, box, app, or facility brochure whether a specific setup is lawful.
What the current statute puts in writing
These are source-reading prompts, not a form and not legal advice. Haven does not receive a notice, waiver, consent, court order, recording, or resident information.
§26B-2-236(2)
The operative condition addresses the resident and the resident's legal representative, if any, unless the resident is incapable of informed consent. The statute defines “legal representative” as an individual legally authorized to make health-care decisions for another individual; being a relative or contact alone does not satisfy that definition.
§26B-2-236(2)(a)
The statute describes written notice of the intent to operate or install the device and consent to a waiver agreement if the facility requires one. Ask for the current facility process rather than relying on a verbal summary.
§26B-2-236(2)(b)
For a shared room, the statute calls for written consent from each roommate and the roommate's legal representative, if any, specifically stating the hours when operation is accepted. It does not authorize Haven to decide capacity or representation.
§26B-2-236(2)(c)
The statute assigns responsibility for installation and operating costs to the resident side of the process. Ask who handles installation, maintenance, signs, storage, removal, and damage before agreeing to a setup.
§26B-2-236(5)
The section says an individual may not, under this part and without a court order, operate a device in secret or with intent to intercept a wire, electronic, or oral communication without notice to or consent of a party. A court order under this provision is not a general conclusion about every other law or right.
Facility duties named in the source
§26B-2-236(4)(a)
A facility may not deny admission for the sole reason that the individual or representative requests a monitoring device.
§26B-2-236(4)(b)
A facility may not discharge a resident for the sole reason that the resident or representative makes the request.
§26B-2-236(4)(c)
The facility must prohibit employees from deactivating, repositioning, or otherwise interfering with operation.
§26B-2-236(4)(d)
The facility may require a sign near the room entrance stating that the room contains a monitoring device.
The current DLBC assisted-living inspection checklist, revised May 20, 2026, repeats the admission and employee-interference duties at R432-270-10(7) and the sole-reason discharge protection at R432-270-11(9). A checklist line is not proof of what happened in a particular room or a current compliance finding.
Bring the same questions to the discussion
Privacy, records, grievances, and official resources.
Open guide →Keep spouse-sharing and two-resident room questions separate from camera consent.
Open guide →Separate a responsible-person label from actual legal authority.
Open guide →Read the Type II secure-unit scope without inferring care fit.
Open guide →Return to the current R432-270 source map and public-record limits.
Open guide →Utah Code Section 26B-2-236 provides a process for a resident or the resident's legal representative to operate or install a monitoring device when the statute's resident and representative, informed-consent, written-notice, roommate-consent, device, and cost conditions are met. The statute defines a legal representative as someone legally authorized to make health-care decisions; family status alone is not that definition. Confirm the exact device, people, room, facility policy, and authority before acting.
Do not assume so. Section 26B-2-236 expressly excludes from its monitoring-device definition a device connected to the Internet or set up to transmit data through electronic communication. A Wi-Fi, cloud, app-connected, or remotely transmitting product may fall outside this section's definition. Obtain advice about the exact device and use rather than relying on a product label.
The statute describes written consent from each roommate and the roommate's legal representative, if any, specifying the hours when the roommate consents to operation. This page does not decide whether a particular person can consent, who has legal authority, or how a disagreement should be resolved.
The statute says a facility may not deny admission or discharge a resident for the sole reason that the individual, resident, or legal representative requests to install or operate a monitoring device. That sole-reason protection does not answer whether a proposed device or use satisfies every requirement or whether another independent admission issue exists.
Section 26B-2-236 says a facility shall prohibit employees from deactivating, repositioning, or otherwise interfering with a monitoring device in a resident's room. The current DLBC assisted-living checklist repeats that employee-interference duty for Type I and Type II licensees. A particular incident should be addressed through the appropriate facility and official channels, not sent to Haven.
Do not treat this statute as authorization for secret recording. Section 26B-2-236 says an individual may not, under this part and without a court order, operate a monitoring device in secret or with intent to intercept a wire, electronic, or oral communication without notice to or consent of a party to the communication. That provision does not resolve other laws or private rights. A facility may also require a sign near the room entrance.
Reviewed August 26, 2026. The current statutory page identifies Section 26B-2-236 as effective July 1, 2024; the linked DLBC assisted-living checklist identifies its last change as May 20, 2026. Laws, rules, forms, facility policies, and device technology can change. Verify the current official source and obtain advice about the exact people, authority, room, device, and planned use before acting. This page is not legal or medical advice, a surveillance plan, an equipment recommendation, proof of neglect, a quality result, or a placement service. It is a focused reading guide, not an exhaustive treatment of Section 26B-2-236; subsection (3), for example, contains separate facility-liability language for operation consistent with the part.