S.B. 266 County Governance Revisions

What this bill does

The bill would set out which duties belong to elected county officials and which belong to a county manager, in counties where the county code does not make that clear. The bill is being held in committee so a revised substitute version can be drafted.

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Every vote

• 6 yes, 0 no, 1 absentSenate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee: vote, which it did not pass · Feb 11, 2026Who voted how

Hearings and debates

• Feb 11, 2026 Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (29 turns)

  1. Acting Chair Vickers (presiding)1:02:35

     Uh, call Senate Bill two sixty six County governance revisions.

  2. Sen. Ronald M. Winterton1:02:40

     Senator Winterton, Uh, some background on this one here. And this was, uh, last year in interim, during interim, uh, we combined or we split, um, county or political subdivisions and, and county govern or governance offices up. And we have diff two different interim committees. This was a bill that was on the study item for political subdivisions. We had several things that the county governance was on there for study. And, uh, this is one of four that I showed up at political subdivisions and walked away with bills. And, uh, so, um, happy to have the discussion during interim. We didn't get much traction out of this bill and nobody wanted figured if we didn't talk about it, it'd go away. So we finally put the draft out last week, and I've got a lot of interest in it. So I'll tell you my intentions right now is, uh, we do have a lot of folks here that want to speak to the bill of what's wrong with the bill. That's what this is all about. Um, the concept was is that we have alternative forms of county governance, and the people decide whether they want to have a county commission or a county council. If they do a county council, what kind of a form of government is that? Is that with an elected elect, uh, executive or a county managers type in which the council then hires a manager and goes on. But there was some gray areas in the code. The attempt on this bill was to define those gray areas. And so that's what it is. And with that, if you've read the bill, I'm open to questions or we can hear from those that have showed up to, uh, help us modify the direction. Okay. That concludes your presentation. Yes, It does. We'll Come back to the committee for any clarifying questions anyway online.

  3. Acting Chair Vickers (presiding)1:04:51

     Okay. We do have one Senator Kel.

  4. Sen. Michael K. McKell1:04:53

     Yeah. Thank you. Um, the question I have, and this is, I, I've got this question from my, my city managers reached out, several other people have reached out and, and it's, it's concerned that I would have is you're basically in this bill, you're, you're limiting, you're limiting professionals that you could hire. And, and, and what I, and what I mean by that, you have a prohibition of unelected county employees from exercising power functions, duties of an elected executive or county officer. Is, is there a reason? We don't want, want, I mean, to, to me, I, I love elected officials. I'm an elected official, but there are certain roles in counties and, and I look at my own counties, there are certain places where I think having professionals with a certain skillset, a certain degree would be helpful. Is there a reason why we would not, why would we, we would be limiting that in this bill? Well, that, that was an oversight because the intent was, is that they can continue doing what they're doing, but it needs to be done by an ordinance so that those that elected them to represent 'em know what's going on. When you hire an at will employee, then the misconception is that they run the county and, and they have all this power in which if they want that power, then they need to change their former government to elect or elected, elected, uh, executive for that. Because we, we play in the same space there. I love the elected professionals or the professionals that we have. I'm not trying to limit that, but I want defined lines as to what they can and can't do. And we just co-mingle those. And so this bill, and we left that out because that, that's not the intent. We're not trying to eliminate them. Let me, can I just follow up? Yeah. A follow up question. Lemme give you an example. Uh, Utah Kiani, um, Jamie, Jamie Davidson was city manager in Orem. Now he's, he's serving as a, a mission leader in, in Denmark. I know that, 'cause my niece was just called to his mission and, and I saw him. I, I saw him recently in, in Iceland. Um, part of that mission, Jamie's one of the most talented people I know, and he got in a disagreement with the mayor. And the mayor did everything in his power to force him out. Now, we have a new mayor in Orem, but my, my concern is, where, where do we take this? Where do we take this next? I I know we're dealing with county today, but, but if I had to pick between skillset of those two individuals, it's not even close. I would've taken Jamie Davidson. I, I felt like, I felt like it was very unfair the way he was pushed out of that city. And, and it, and it, it concerns me. I think I felt like it was very disruptive. I felt like it was inappropriate. And, and that's my concern. That's my struggle with this bill, because I look at, I look at this as this is county right now. I look at my city manager, I look at my last city manager, and they are, they are incredibly talented. But what do I do? What do I do when I have a, a big dispute with, with a, an elected mayor, elected commission, and, and they try to force that person out with that, with that skillset that's really needed. I mean, that, that's my concern. I, that's why I struggle with this policy. But,

  5. Sen. Ronald M. Winterton1:08:00

     Well, and you have every right to be concerned. I represent two counties that have this form of government. They both operate very well and do a good job. We have three others in the state that's struggled and have problems. We have one outside of that that has an elected, uh, executive, and they've struggled on it. And, and there, there seems to be struggle sometimes back and forth as to whose duty is it? And, and a county council ha has both, both legislative and executive powers. And, and we assume that the manager is their executive and takes on that work because they're full-time and they do a good job at it. But what the attempt is, is that the, the people that elected them to do both jobs need to know who's in charge. Uh, if you're an executive that's been elected, that's already defined, but a county manager is not. That's all we're trying to do here. So I'm not trying to eliminate anybody's job. Uh, you made the example of a a, a city manager. Most cities have, they're not full-time. The, uh, city council is not full-time. So they rely heavily upon these professionals and these people to manage the affairs of the city. When we do that on a county level, we want that expertise, but they need to understand that they're not the boss, that they do answer to the council. And sometimes that gets lost. That's what right was coming to us, is that, can we define the lines? That's all. We're not change changing form of governments define it, because if we don't hear it, the legislature and somebody takes 'em to court, we leave that gap up to a judge to decide that that's the whole point of this. I'm not making new law, I'm not adding anything. But I can see in the drafting that we've, we've left some of those out. And so I would like to hear from the people that, uh, you know, uh, have a problem with it because I want them to help us fix it so that we don't end up in court and it ends up different than what our intent is.

  6. Acting Chair Vickers (presiding)1:10:18

     Okay. Senator McKell, is that I, that's good. Thank, thank you. Okay. Any other questions from the committee? Seeing none, we, pardon me? No, thank you. Um, none of our legislators online have questions, so are in the room. So we'll go to the public. How many would like to speak to the bill? A few. Okay. Um, we'll have you come up, we'll give you How many you have? You got about five or six. Okay. Let me see. Yeah, why don't we, we got two spots. How many, how many are in favor of the bill? Let me ask you that. Okay. We got few. Okay. Let's, let's go both sides then. Okay. This seat over here is four Amelia. One close to you is four. This one is against, if you start coming up and taking place, we'll set a time. We'll give you a minute and a half. And, um, I think everyone probably knows the how it works, but please identify yourself, who you represent, and make sure that as you leave, you sign in. Thank you. Let's get this. Okay. Time's yours?

  7. Jerry Houghton, Recorder and Surveyor, Tooele County1:11:41

     Yep. I'm Jerry Alton. I'm the Tula County Recorder surveyor At Twila County, we have this council manager, former government. It's what our, uh, constituents voted on. Uh, when I started in 2011, we were under a commission and we changed, changed to the, um, manager or the manager council. The thing is, is the reason I support this bill is exactly what Senator Winterton is trying to do, is to define the line over, uh, between what the electeds are responsible for and what the county manager. Um, it, it was assumed that it was set out in code originally as to what has happened, but it started to blur because there's been attempts to tweak that, uh, locally who's responsible for what? And that has created some problems. It probably should be something that is resolved within the county. Uh, probably not a good idea to have it resolved, um, legislatively. But it has brought up, uh, some, uh, some problems, uh, where some of the electeds, um, uh, historical statutory duties are starting to be slowly transferred over to, uh, a manager that is not elected. Thank you. Thank you.

  8. Acting Chair Vickers (presiding)1:13:17

     Okay. Next. And just like to remind you that this seat is for those who are in favor of the bill. And so somebody of favor could please come forward.

  9. Roger Armstrong, Council Member, Summit County Council1:13:24

     I Roger Armstrong Southern County Counsel. Um, first I would like to say that I had a great conversation with Senator Winterton this morning and was able to convey to him some of the concerns that we have about the bill. Um, I will say that, uh, in Summit County, we don't seem to have mission creep, uh, with our county manager. We have very clear lines. I think the one thing that terrifies me about this bill as a part-time county council member is vesting the executive authority in the county council would be a pretty high hill for us to climb. As part-time counselors we're typically involved in about 25 to, uh, to 30 hours a week in terms of performing just the legislative functions of our job. I have no idea how we would take on the executive functions as well. Um, looking at the practical aspects of the bill, uh, it invests executive authority and legislative authority within the county council. And the bill also provides that that executive authority cannot be delegated, which may, and I, I think in discussions with Senator Winterton, I don't believe that that was the intent of the bill. Uh, I think he pointed out that it also says that by ordinance, we can delegate jobs to the county manager, but that's internally inconsistent in this bill. In some places it says we can, and then some places it says you cannot delegate any executive authority to the county manager. One of the single biggest problems with this bill is the enabling legislation that allowed the county manager form of government to take hold, um, allowed the voters to vote on how they wanted that county manager structure to function. And our voters said clearly they wanted the county manager to have the executive authority. They wanted to separate that from the legislative authority of the council so that the manager would be carrying out and making sure that they enforced and carried out the, uh, the legislation that we undertook. So I think there's a lot of internal I, Sean, I actually didn't, didn't start you. You got to, you got a few extra seconds in there, so thank you. Appreciate, we'll move on, judge. Uh, I would appreciate if the bill survives that it be rewritten so that it clarifies some of these functions.

  10. Acting Chair Vickers (presiding)1:15:46

      Next. Thanks. Thanks for coming. Thank you very much. Go

  11. Amelia Powers Gardner, Commissioner, Utah County1:15:48

      Ahead, Mr. Chair. Um, Amelia Powers, Gardner, Utah County Commissioner. Um, we currently have a three member full-time commission, but with a Senator Hinkins bill that would allow commissions to expand and become full-time. I think as we look at how we vest these powers, I think it's really important for us to recognize that there could be in the not too near future, um, expanded full-time county commissions. And, uh, we have county administrators as well. And so I think it is important to draw a line where that line should be. I, uh, Senator Mikel made a great point. We have had some significant issues where we've had a, a rogue elected official that works part-time and doesn't actually have to implement, uh, decisions that are, um, wreaking havoc on highly competent professionals. We wanna make sure that that's not the case, but we also want to make sure that as we're looking at all the different forms of government, that that line is clearly drawn, where the, where the authority lies with the elected official and where the authority lies with a, an unelected bureaucrat, uh, that the people did not choose. So I say as long as that line is clearly drawn, I think that's very helpful. Thank you.

  12. Acting Chair Vickers (presiding)1:16:58

      Thank you. Okay. Good morning.

  13. Lincoln Shurtz, Utah Association of Counties1:17:03

      You gimme 30 seconds. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman members, the Committee of Lincoln Insureds here on behalf of the Association of Counties. Thanks for the time. I think one point of clarification in the, uh, manager council form of government and, uh, Senator Mike Kelly alluded to this is oftentimes that form of government was actually chosen by the voters. And so when there is kind of this characterization that the city manager was not indeed elected by the public, oftentimes that form of government was chosen by the public when they enabled it, uh, through a vote of the people. Um, one thing that I do think needs to be clarified in the legislation as well is that if you are going to do something by ordinance, it needs to align with the enabling, um, if you will, selection of that form of government that essentially you cannot divest a county manager of duties and give that to the council if indeed the public did vote on giving those duties to the county manager. And so there's some technical issues that we just need to work through on the legislation. We have met with Senator Winterton expressed some of the concerns, uh, that have been echoed here today. Uh, would be happy to sit down with him and kind of work through some of those details to ensure that we get this right. Uh, make sure that we're honoring the vote of the people. We're at the same token, giving him the flexibility and making sure that we have clear guidelines, uh, by ordinance that kind of give the public an understanding of how executive and legislative functions are managed within the county.

  14. Acting Chair Vickers (presiding)1:18:25

      Thank you. Okay.

  15. Kendall Thomas, Councilman, Tooele County1:18:28

      Kendall Thomas for Tah County. And I'm here to speak in favor of this, uh, not in favor of this. I wanna be very clear about that and The wrong chair. I guess I can't hear you. Well, I know nobody else was running up here, so I thought, well, I wanted, let's keep this action going here. So thank you very much. One thing I've learned, uh, I used to be the county commissioner for two years before we Uintah the new form of government. And having been a commissioner and having gone to a, a manager form of government that is appointed, we are kicking butt, Plain and simple. We are doing really good. Now, is that to say we don't have some challenges? We've had, uh, I've come to understand it over the last two days because we didn't really know about the interim. That was that we could have come to the table, our fault. I'll take that knowledge. For some reason we didn't get the word, but this is evidently a to county problem. It's not Wasatch, it's not Summit, it's not anybody else's problem, but it's internal. We don't need you to fix our problems. Now, can we come to, maybe we need to have a mediator to help referee to kind of get this together. But I'm telling you here, the county pop population voted overwhelmingly to switch former governments for a reason, because they wanted a professional running the day-to-day operations. As a council, we're very hands-on and we make good policy, we work on policy, we own it. That manager does not own it. So let us fix our own problem if we have a problem. And maybe you can help us, but we don't need to have you fix the whole state's problems 'cause there is another one. I don't think so. Thanks. Thank you.

  16. Acting Chair Vickers (presiding)1:20:05

      Next.

  17. Eve Furse, Clerk, Summit County1:20:11

      Hello, Evelyn Fur. I'm the Summit County Clerk, and I just wanted to, uh, let you know that, uh, as a, uh, another elected in Summit County, I've had nothing but good experience with our county managers. Uh, I'm particularly concerned on a couple of things as an independent elected. One is the prohibition on the manager and the council being able to talk about the independent electeds, uh, salary. I think everyone in the county is entitled to comment on my salary as an elected individual. And so that seemed odd to me. I think that might be an oversight. So I just wanted to mention that. Um, and then also the, uh, I did wanna make clear that we clarify that we're not actually giving any, uh, executive authorities that are vested in the other offices to the county council. Um, because of some of the changes in the, in the, in 2 0 4 in 17 16 62, 2 0 4, it makes the changes, the existing section 17 65 3 0 1 less clear about carving out our duties. So I just wanna make sure those didn't get given to the council. Thank You. Thank you.

  18. Acting Chair Vickers (presiding)1:21:26

      Go ahead.

  19. Maryann Christensen, Executive Director, Utah Legislative Watch1:21:30

      Maryanne Christensen, executive director of Utah Legislative Watch. I'd like to speak in favor of the bill because as a citizen, I think it's just a prudent thing to do to, um, to vest power, government power in our elected officials because they're the most accountable to the people. When I read the bill, it was very clear to me that that's exactly what Senator Winterton was trying to do. He was trying to make sure that we didn't give too much power to someone who was not elected by the people. And I, I, as I read through it, I thought it was a great plan for doing that. So I would appreciate your yes. Vote. Thank you.

  20. Acting Chair Vickers (presiding)1:22:09

      Thank you. Your reminder. Make sure that everyone signs the, the log. Okay. Uh, lemme just ask, is there anyone else in the room that has, hasn't testified they would like to? Do we have anyone online? Okay. This will be our last public testimony. So go ahead.

  21. Megan McKenna, Council Member, Summit County1:22:27

      Okay. Is this mic on though? It's not on. Yes, it's okay. Um, good evening, chair and members. Uh, my name is Megan McKenna and I am a county counselor in Summit County as well. I won't repeat the, um, previous comments, but I too am opposed to, um, SB 2 66 as it stands. Um, and I'll just add to, um, what some of my, um, colleagues and and counterparts in other counties have said. Um, as a member of one of the councils that, um, Senator Winterton mentioned that is functioning well under this form of, of government, um, we, we do have concerns, um, as someone who grew up in Summit County under the, um, three commissioner form of, of government and as a young voter who voted for it in, in 2006, um, I think it served our, our community well. Um, and now as a, as a county counselor on that, um, body, I think, um, the, the three form or branches of, of government, actually, we, we have a really nice tension. Um, and, and I think, um, as some of the, the previous comments mentioned, um, that is the, the accountability we have, um, and our, um, appointed county manager has to us, um, and to the people that elect us. And, um, is that the time? Nope, we've got 15 seconds. Okay. Well, thank you for your time and, and thank you, Senator. If this does move forward, we do look forward to, um, helping you address some of those issues. Appreciate It. Thank you for coming and testifying.

  22. Acting Chair Vickers (presiding)1:23:53

      Okay. That concludes, uh, public test testimony. We'll bring it back to the committee now for further deliberation or action.

  23. Acting Chair Vickers (presiding)1:24:04

      Senator Winterton?

  24. Sen. Ronald M. Winterton1:24:06

      Yeah, let me just say that I appreciate the input. I mean, it's terrible that we have to get to this point to try to get people in the room to solve something that some will see as a problem. Others say it's not. I recognize that. And, and at this time, I would make a motion that we hold this bill and, and give us time to have those thoughts that were expressed today formulated into a new substitute for this bill.

  25. Acting Chair Vickers (presiding)1:24:34

      Okay. So the motion before us is to hold the billing committee, and that'd be at the discretion of the chair, whether to put it back on the agenda again.

  26. Acting Chair Vickers (presiding)1:24:45

      Uh, discussion to that motion. Senator McKell? Yeah.

  27. Sen. Michael K. McKell1:24:48

      Thank you, Mr. Mr. Sub chair. Um, I, I support the motion. I think that's, I think that's the right thing to do here, but I just want to comment on, on the policy. It was interesting that members that came in and testified against it are giving away power. And I think that's interesting that we have members that have been elected, but see the value in having expertise. I, I was down in Ute County, we had a fight years ago and we wanted to expand our commission and, and, and, and then I thought Mayor council was the right answer, mayor commission. And I actually don't think that anymore. I, I look at the cities as, as I've been in this process, I, I start looking at cities that I think are run really well. And I think the cities that, that are managed the best are managed with, with some of these professionals. So I, I'm, I'm probably as, as this moves forward, I'm gonna be concerned of the, the policy in general. I would hate to limit having that, that really good expertise. I grew up, I grew up in rural Utah, and finding somebody in, in some parts, parts of, of the state that really qualified with a degree in management, city management, I think it can be, I think it'd be difficult. I'm a normal person. I ran, but I, I can tell you my city, city managers are far more qualified than me because they went and studied it and they got, they got degrees in it and they know how to do it. I, I, I worry about this, this policy and, and I'm gonna support the motion. But again, I think it's interesting that many of those against this, um, are people who recognize the importance of giving up some of that power to professionals. And, and, and I think that's an, I think that's an interesting point that I wanna make without having to support the motion.

  28. Acting Chair Vickers (presiding)1:26:25

      Okay. Hey, that a discussion of the motion? Anyone online? Okay. Senator Winterton, let you sum on your motion. Nope, I, okay. We'll place the motion. All in favor of holding the bill, which is Senate Bill 2 66. In committee, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any posts say nay Five little bit. Say that again. We Needed to hear from Senator Plumb. Oh. Get a response. Uh, Senator Plumb, we did not hear your vote. You're on mute. Give us a thumbs up or thumbs down. Um, okay, so we've got two online. Okay. We'll ruin that passage. Unanimous. Six to zero. Thank you. And one final motion. Motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn by Senator Winterton. No. All in favor. That motion say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Turn the lights off. We are adjourned. Thank you.

  29. Unknown speaker1:27:29speaker not certain

      I.