H.B. 211

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SPECIAL SESSION PUBLIC HEARING
2 REQUIREMENTS
3 1998 GENERAL SESSION
4 STATE OF UTAH
5 Sponsor: Evan L. Olsen
6 AN ACT RELATING TO THE LEGISLATURE; ESTABLISHING CERTAIN NOTICE AND
7 PUBLIC HEARING REQUIREMENTS FOR SPECIAL SESSIONS.
8 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
9 ENACTS:
10 36-23-101, Utah Code Annotated 1953
11 36-23-102, Utah Code Annotated 1953
12 36-23-201, Utah Code Annotated 1953
13 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
14 Section 1. Section 36-23-101 is enacted to read:
15 CHAPTER 23. SPECIAL SESSIONS
16 Part 1. General Provisions
17 36-23-101. Title.
18 This chapter is entitled "Special Sessions."
19 Section 2. Section 36-23-102 is enacted to read:
20 36-23-102. Definitions.
21 As used in this chapter:
22 (1) "Legislative body" means the Legislature meeting in joint convention, the Senate, the
23 House of Representatives, a standing committee of the Legislature, an interim committee of the
24 Legislature, or any other committee or group composed exclusively of legislators that is formally
25 appointed by the president of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives, or both of
26 them.
27 (2) "Notice" means:

1 (a) posting written notice at the building where the meeting is to be held; and
2 (b) providing notice to at least one newspaper of general circulation within Utah or to a
3 local media correspondent.
4 (3) "Public hearing" means a formal meeting by a legislative body where:
5 (a) the public is given at least 24-hour notice of the agenda, date, time, and place of the
6 meeting; and
7 (b) comments from the public will be accepted.
8 (4) "Special session" means an extraordinary session of the Legislature called by the
9 governor under the Utah Constitution, Article VII, Section 6.
10 (5) (a) "Special session legislation" means each bill or constitutional resolution that has
11 been approved for introduction in the special session by a legislative sponsor.
12 (b) "Special session legislation" does not mean substitute bills or amendments prepared
13 during the course of the special session.
14 Section 3. Section 36-23-201 is enacted to read:
15 Part 2. Public Hearing for Special Session Legislation
16 36-23-201. Public hearing for Special Session legislation.
17 (1) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (b), before formally debating or passing any
18 special session legislation, the Legislature shall ensure that a legislative body holds a public
19 hearing on that special session legislation.
20 (b) When the governor has declared a state of emergency according to the procedures and
21 requirements of Section 63-5a-5, the Legislature need not hold a public hearing on any special
22 session legislation drafted to respond to the state of emergency.
23 (2) (a) The Legislature shall ensure that written minutes are kept of the public hearing.
24 (b) Those minutes shall include:
25 (i) the date, time, and place of the public hearing;
26 (ii) the names of members of the legislative body who are present and absent;
27 (iii) the substance of all matters proposed, discussed, or decided, and a record, by
28 individual member, of votes taken, if any;
29 (iv) the names of all citizens who appeared and the substance in brief of their testimony;
30 (v) any other information that any member of the legislative body requests be entered in
31 the minutes.

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1 (c) The minutes are public records and shall be available within a reasonable time after the
2 public hearing.
3 (d) All or any part of the public hearing may be recorded by any person in attendance if
4 the recording does not interfere with the conduct of the meeting.




Legislative Review Note
as of 11-20-97 9:53 AM

A limited legal review of this bill raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel

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