Cities and counties

The bill would require public infrastructure district board meetings to be held within the boundaries of the entity that created the district, where ratepayers live, or as close as possible if no suitable facility exists.

The bill would bar people from attaching objects or stickers to political signs in ways that cover or change the sign's message, and would let cities and counties remove noncompliant signs.

H.B. 38 updates Utah county law by changing several county rules: a county seat or county consolidation petition must now reach a majority of active voters and be filed 180 days before the election, and counties may post audit-completion notices on their websites instead of in newspapers.

H.B. 76 would require operators of large data centers, defined as facilities of about 10,000 square feet or more, to submit a water use report to the state water engineer between 180 and 360 days before construction begins.

The bill lets cities and counties adopt local zoning and land-use rules for large micro-education entities, including ones with up to 100 students, in residential areas.

This bill would set a minimum due process standard that a city or town must follow before suspending a law enforcement officer for more than two days.

The bill would let local governments create 'stay out of drug areas' where law enforcement can keep repeat offenders out of targeted public spaces with open drug markets.

H.B. 211 would allow land patents issued by the state that bear the Great Seal of Utah to be recorded without a notary's signature, even though a 1988 law generally requires notarized land transfers before recording.

The bill changes Utah's firearm liability rules so that claims against firearm sellers and manufacturers are limited to their own wrongful conduct, and courts must dismiss claims that do not meet the bill's specified requirements.

The bill would stop cities and counties from enforcing local ordinances that prevent property owners from clearing defensible space around homes as required by the wildland urban interface code.

HB 217 would bar cities, counties, and police agencies from enforcing any rule that delays or limits when a person can report a vehicle stolen.

H.B. 230 would let county jails help inmates serving longer than six months renew or replace driver's licenses or state IDs before release, including through a virtual option.

This bill would allow local governments and public colleges to require oral fluid samples for drug testing, alongside urine, blood, breath, and hair.

H.B. 319 would let counties propose secure digital methods to verify the identity of people submitting records, as an alternative to notarization.

This bill raises the yearly limit on online marriage license fee money that can go to the Utah Marriage Commission from $400,000 to $600,000.

The bill lets government entities redact victims' names from initial police contact reports while keeping incident and government response information public.

The bill requires the Department of Public Safety to run a location monitoring program, using ankle monitors paid for by the state, for registered sex offenders who do not give a residential address.

This bill would require municipalities to fill a tie in a vacancy involving three or more candidates by drawing lots, instead of repeated coin tosses.

The bill would bar cities and other local governments from charging general fees for broadband and public safety.

H.B. 429 would let a city in a first-class county, such as Salt Lake County, leave a trash collection special service district.

The bill adds a new home-building measure to the moderate income housing plan that gives cities a second bonus point for transportation funding if their housing supply grows 2.5% or more, usable on regional transportation projects.

The bill limits when a road crossing private land can be closed, keeping roads open if they have long been used to reach public land or other private property.

The bill would require a county that wants to buy land located in another county to notify that county and get formal approval from its legislative body before the purchase.

H.B. 457 would require unincorporated pockets of land completely surrounded by a city in second class counties to be annexed into that city by July 2027, with owners receiving notice.

This bill renames the state economic development agency from GO Utah back to GOED.

H.B. 481 would give the Utah Department of Transportation the same authority over commuter rail and transit rail projects that it already has over roads, and would repeal the state code for the Clean Vehicle Program decal.

The bill creates a committee of three senators and three representatives that meets in the interim to review state highway name requests, choosing one name per legislative session.

The bill creates a $100 million state fund to help pay for regional infrastructure, such as roads and utilities, that supports already-planned housing, with priority for single-family starter homes.

H.B. 507 would end four existing state-created tax increment tools and replace them with one new tool that can capture up to 60% of added property tax for up to 25 years.

This bill would require a state study of how a 2023 federal Supreme Court ruling on non-connected wetlands could change Utah's wetland policy, covering only four Wasatch Front counties.

H.B. 514 would expand the Utah Energy Council from five to seven members, add a co-chair structure, and designate it as the State Energy Financing Institution for certain federal energy grants and financing.

H.B. 531 would give scarification, a body art procedure that removes layers of skin to form a designed scar, its own set of safety rules separate from tattooing.

The bill would require a public entity such as a city, county, school district, or special district to post a sign and give public meeting notice before selling, leasing, or joint-venturing a parcel of public property valued at $500,000 or more.

This bill would require that, in first-class counties (currently Salt Lake County), city library tax levies be listed separately from other property taxes on tax notices.

This bill removes certain outdated or redundant reporting requirements that the law enforcement and criminal justice interim committee had been assigned.

For counties with more than 225,000 residents, the bill removes the ban on using the county commission or expanded county commission forms of government.

The bill would require local law enforcement agencies to examine seized cell phones themselves or through agreements with other agencies, instead of sending them to the FBI-run RCFL lab.

S.B. 39 moves existing investment zone and housing incentive laws from several parts of Utah's code into one consolidated section with its own definitions, and shifts housing incentive programs from Workforce Services to the governor's Office of Economic Opportunity.

SB 91 would raise the vehicle registration fee by $1.25, from about $56.75 to $58.

S.B. 108 would bar Utah cities from regulating online marketplace platforms, such as ride-hailing, short-term rental, and delivery apps, as part of transactions on them, setting one statewide standard.

The bill expands an existing invasive weed removal program so it can operate along the full length of the Jordan River, not just in three cities, to reduce plant water use and increase flow to the Great Salt Lake.

S.B. 131 would let charter schools, if they choose, extend their lottery enrollment preference from a two-mile radius to the boundaries of a political subdivision such as a school district, but only when they are at capacity.

S.B. 146 would allow municipalities, not just the Utah Department of Transportation, to use approved industrial byproducts such as steel slag, including the remaining slag pile at the former Geneva Steel site, in city projects like sidewalks, curbs, gutters, and parking lots as aggregate base.

S.B. 156 would let constables set up a payment schedule with a person who owes a debt, instead of immediately seizing that person's personal property.

A person already sentenced for a crime who gives helpful information to law enforcement could have their conviction reduced by one degree if the prosecutor and defense attorney jointly file a motion asking for it.

The bill would require animal shelters to notify rescue groups about dogs and cats before euthanizing them, giving rescues a set number of days to take the animals.

This bill would let privately owned golf courses mow between 5:30 AM and 10:00 PM, the same kind of mowing hours that apply to publicly owned courses.

The bill renames the Multi-County Appraisal Trust as the STATS program and makes it the central place where tax increment financing entities report.

The bill moves constable licensing from county and city appointment to the state, placing it under the Department of Commerce's licensing division (DOPL) with state oversight and complaint procedures.

This bill sets rules for winding down community reinvestment agencies when their project areas end.

The bill would require state agencies, counties, cities, and school boards to consider how a proposed rule, ordinance, or policy would affect the stability and formation of families in Utah before adopting it.

S.B. 242 is a broad transportation bill that lets local governments temporarily bar mobile food businesses during certain celebrations and sets a road usage charge of up to $500 a year on electric commercial vehicles over 6,000 pounds.

S.B. 278 modifies the law governing the Point of the Mountain land use authority, which is redeveloping the former state prison site in Draper.

This bill changes Utah city and county rules on incorporation, model homes, planning commissions, land use fees and conditional use permits, cash bond interest, and land use checklists.

Municipal election candidates would have to file campaign finance reports every year while their campaign account still holds money, including after they leave office.

This resolution would urge the state's public and private schools to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks with age-appropriate educational activities, discussions, and remembrances.

This nonbinding Senate resolution states that the Legislature supports including agriculture in residential developments and urban neighborhood planning.

The bill would let cities and towns place unpaid utility bills on a property as a lien, so the amount is added to that property's annual property tax bill.

H.B. 39 would require state prisons and county jails to follow unified standards and undergo regular inspections by an independent party instead of policing themselves.

The bill would require residential treatment centers, sometimes called halfway or group homes, to give neighbors within 300 feet a contact card with a phone number and email address within 30 days before or after a new facility opens.

This bill would let voters challenge local school board decisions through a referendum, unless the board passes the decision by a supermajority vote.

HB 184 would let cities approve or deny a small-lot or starter home through a basic application, without rezoning the whole zone where it would be built.

H.B. 212 would add a second way to split a county with more than one million people, which currently means only Salt Lake County.

The bill would let each city or town adopt one official flag, while allowing it to fly other flags freely.

The bill would require in-person businesses with 10 or more employees that regularly take card or digital payments to also accept cash starting in July 2027.

H.B. 328 would limit overhead spray irrigation, the sprinklers that spray over grass, on non-functional turf in new commercial, industrial, institutional, and multi-family construction.

School districts would have to try a general obligation bond first before using a lease revenue bond for construction.

The bill lets each county sheriff, before July 1, 2026, choose whether to make the major commander, captain, and lieutenant ranks career service exempt from the merit system, where only the sheriff, chief deputy, and chief are now exempt.

H.B. 347 would require local education agencies to notify residents within 200 feet before installing artificial turf of at least 5,000 square feet, by mail or in person 30 days ahead, and to name a point of contact.

The bill lets a city or special district file notice with the county recorder to take over a canal company's prescriptive easement after that company files an abandonment.

H.B. 365 would require cities, counties, school districts and other taxing entities to publicly post notice by May 1 of any planned property tax increase.

The bill would require cities in the Great Salt Lake drainage that lack a water-efficient landscaping ordinance for new construction to adopt one.

The bill adds rules for public infrastructure districts, including faster dissolution notice of 30 days, more disclosure of board conflicts, and limits on annexing land outside what the original governing documents authorized.

This bill would require the State Water Engineer's Office to create a program and plan that helps counties, cities, and special water districts prepare 40-year water plans, including a simple template for small communities.

This bill would let homeowners doing remodels on their own homes use qualified, licensed third parties, instead of only city officials, for building plan review before a permit and for inspections afterward.

The bill would let people who are allowed to grow flowers on their property also sell those flowers from home.

The bill changes a pilot program that lets landowners pursue a new town without a resident vote.

H.B. 511 would have state procurement officers add a scoring advantage worth 10% for Utah-registered, Utah-headquartered bidders when proposals are otherwise close.

This bill would let cities and other nonpartisan local governments choose whether to hold a primary election when two or three candidates file for an open seat.

The bill would require that, when a special district board member who is not elected is serving in place of a city or county, any tax or fee increase vote be cast by an elected alternate member instead.

The bill would allow a person who signed an initiative or referendum petition to correct, or cure, a problem with their signature, similar to how ballot signatures can already be cured.

For defendants who have prior convictions (not counting traffic offenses) and have been charged with multiple crimes within a set time window, this bill would require pretrial release to include a supervision or financial condition.

The latest version of this bill would bar certain county managers and mayors from also serving on a city, town, or county council in the same jurisdiction.

The bill would reclassify Utah counties every five years using population and revenue data, instead of raising population thresholds or adding exemptions.

S.B. 78 would repeal three state property tax programs, including the renter's credit, and let each county decide whether to offer a property tax abatement.

The bill would require courts to report convictions for animal abuse offenses into the state child welfare (DCFS) records system, so caseworkers can use that information when deciding on children's cases.

This bill would explicitly allow Utah cities to contract with outside attorneys to handle criminal prosecution, matching the authority counties already have.

The bill would require state facilities under 50,000 square feet along the Wasatch Front to replace gas-powered (two-stroke) lawn equipment with electric equipment when that equipment is retired.

The bill would require Utah jails to let defense attorneys visit prospective clients who are held there, so an inmate can vet an attorney before hiring them.

The bill, as substituted, would create a pilot program in which the Salt Lake City Housing Authority reports tenants' timely rent payments to credit bureaus, if the tenant requests it.

This bill would create a state office to help the state own, operate, and manage water projects, including upgrades to water systems.

S.B. 221 clarifies rules for housing and transit reinvestment zones, including limiting how many times tax increment can be triggered to five and defining the base year.

The bill would require that impact fees be spent only on improvements listed in the impact fee facilities plan in effect when the fees were collected.

S.B. 249 would aim to protect state and school employees from retaliation by supervisors or coworkers over union matters and would let them choose whether to be represented by a union.

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.

This bill would let Salt Lake County withdraw from first responder districts, such as the Salt Lake Valley Law Enforcement Service Area, using the same withdrawal process cities already have.