Utah Code

Utah Code § 76-2-404 (2026)

Law enforcement officer use of deadly force

✓ current as of May 2026

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As used in this section:

"Deadly force" means force that creates or is likely to create, or that the individual using the force intends to create, a substantial likelihood of death or serious bodily injury to an individual.

"Officer" means an officer described in Section 53-13-102.

"Serious bodily injury" means the same as that term is defined in Section 76-1-101.5.

The defense of justification applies to the use of deadly force by an officer, or an individual acting by the officer's command in providing aid and assistance, when:

the officer is acting in obedience to and in accordance with the judgment of a competent court in executing a penalty of death under Subsection 77-18-113(2), (3), or (4);

effecting an arrest or preventing an escape from custody following an arrest, if:

the officer reasonably believes that deadly force is necessary to prevent the arrest from being defeated by escape; and

the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect has committed a felony offense involving the infliction or threatened infliction of death or serious bodily injury; or

the officer has probable cause to believe the suspect poses a threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or to an individual other than the suspect if apprehension is delayed; or

the officer reasonably believes that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury to the officer or an individual other than the suspect.

If feasible, a verbal warning should be given by the officer prior to any use of deadly force under Subsection (2)(b) or (2)(c).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 5 cases, 1976–2020 · leading case: Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985).

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Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985). · cites it 2× “51 (c) (1974); Utah Code Ann. § 76-2-404 (1978). [19] See La.”

Singer Ex Rel. Singer v. Wadman, 595 F. Supp. 188 (D. Utah 1982). · cites it 4× “Utah Code Ann. § 76-2-404 permits an officer to use deadly force as follows: A peace officer, or any person acting by his command in his aid and assistance, is justified in using deadly force when: *294 (2) In effecting an arrest or preventing an escape from custody following an…”

Vickie Singer v. Robert Wadman, Vickie Singer v. Walter D. Talbot, 745 F.2d 606 (10th Cir. 1984). “Utah Code Ann. § 76-2-404 (1978). As just stated, we do not believe there were any genuine issues of material facts.”

Robert Dean Mattis, M.D. v. Richard R. Schnarr & Robert Marek v. John C. Danforth, Attorney Gen., State of Missouri, Intervenor-Appellee, 547 F.2d 1007 (8th Cir. 1976). “18, § 508(a)(1)(h) (1973); Utah Code Ann. § 76-2-404 (2)(b) (Supp.1975).”

Jones v. United States (Fed. Cl. 2020). “” Utah Code Ann. § 76-2-404 (1)(c). The plaintiffs already had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the question of whether Officer Norton and Deputy Byron acted reasonably.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.