Rates are Changing
The cost of getting a Utah Concealed Carry permit usually consist of two primary costs. These costs are the course fee and state processing/background check fee. As of August 1st, 2017 the state fee is moving from $37 to $57 for Utah residents and from $47 to $67 for non-residents. The fee change comes as part of HB 124 from the 2015 Legislative Session, a bill that until recently has not been applied to concealed carry applications. HB 124 allows the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) to charge $20 for any fingerprint based background checks and since all concealed carry applicants must be fingerprinted they qualify to be charged this $20 fee. At this point, it is unclear what the BCI intends to do with the additional revenue generated by this fee. The Utah BCI over the past several years had continually decreased the state fee leaving us to ask "why now?"
Rising costs like these emphasize the need to find the right concealed carry course. A good course should cost $40-$50 and include the fingerprinting. If the class doesn't include fingerprint you will spend all that time and money only to be left trying to find somewhere to get your fingerprints done. A good course will have everything you need to get your permit submitted the day of the class. Far too many students take the cheapest class they can find but are left with so much to figure out after the course that the application doesn't get turned in before it expires. Regardless of where you take your class just make sure that is a legitimate and that this instructor is going to walk you through the whole process of getting your concealed carry permit.