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S.B. 106 Enrolled
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill restricts government entities from applying land use regulations that impose a
substantial burden on a person's free exercise of religion.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
. restricts government entities from applying or enacting land use regulations that
impose a substantial burden on a person's free exercise of religion unless certain
exemptions apply;
. permits government to impose land use regulations that substantially burden a
person's free exercise of religion only where the government can show that the land
use regulation is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest and is the
least restrictive means of furthering that interest;
. authorizes a person to seek injunctive or declaratory relief if government fails to
remedy a substantial burden imposed on religious expression by a land use
regulation;
. permits a person to use the defense that a government entity's action creates a
substantial burden on the free exercise of religion in judicial and administrative
hearings;
. requires persons claiming that a land use regulation substantially burdens their free
exercise of religion to file a notice of claim with the governmental entity;
. provides government entities with the opportunity to remedy the substantial burden
before being subject to injunction or declaratory relief; and
. waives government immunity for cases brought to enforce or obtain remedies for
violation of this chapter.
Monies Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
63-30d-301, as enacted by Chapter 267, Laws of Utah 2004
78-12-29, as last amended by Chapter 241, Laws of Utah 2001
ENACTS:
63-90b-101, Utah Code Annotated 1953
63-90b-102, Utah Code Annotated 1953
63-90b-201, Utah Code Annotated 1953
63-90b-301, Utah Code Annotated 1953
63-90b-302, Utah Code Annotated 1953
63-90b-401, Utah Code Annotated 1953
63-90b-402, Utah Code Annotated 1953
63-90b-403, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Uncodified Material Affected:
ENACTS UNCODIFIED MATERIAL
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 63-30d-301 is amended to read:
63-30d-301. Waivers of immunity -- Exceptions.
(1) (a) Immunity from suit of each governmental entity is waived as to any contractual
obligation.
(b) Actions arising out of contractual rights or obligations are not subject to the
requirements of Sections 63-30d-401 , 63-30d-402 , 63-30d-403 , or 63-30d-601 .
(c) The Division of Water Resources is not liable for failure to deliver water from a
reservoir or associated facility authorized by Title 73, Chapter 26, Bear River Development Act,
if the failure to deliver the contractual amount of water is due to drought, other natural condition,
or safety condition that causes a deficiency in the amount of available water.
(2) Immunity from suit of each governmental entity is waived:
(a) as to any action brought to recover, obtain possession of, or quiet title to real or
personal property;
(b) as to any action brought to foreclose mortgages or other liens on real or personal
property, to determine any adverse claim on real or personal property, or to obtain an
adjudication about any mortgage or other lien that the governmental entity may have or claim on
real or personal property;
(c) as to any action based on the negligent destruction, damage, or loss of goods,
merchandise, or other property while it is in the possession of any governmental entity or
employee, if the property was seized for the purpose of forfeiture under any provision of state
law;
(d) subject to Subsection 63-30d-302 (1), as to any action brought under the authority of
Article I, Section 22, of the Utah Constitution, for the recovery of compensation from the
governmental entity when the governmental entity has taken or damaged private property for
public uses without just compensation;
(e) subject to Subsection 63-30d-302 (2), as to any action brought to recover attorneys'
fees under Sections 63-2-405 and 63-2-802 ; [
(f) for actual damages under Title 67, Chapter 21, [
Employees Act[
(g) as to any action brought to obtain relief from a land use regulation that imposes a
substantial burden on the free exercise of religion under Title 63, Chapter 90b, Utah Religious
Land Use Act.
(3) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (3)(b), immunity from suit of each
governmental entity is waived as to any injury caused by:
(i) a defective, unsafe, or dangerous condition of any highway, road, street, alley,
crosswalk, sidewalk, culvert, tunnel, bridge, viaduct, or other structure located on them; or
(ii) any defective or dangerous condition of a public building, structure, dam, reservoir,
or other public improvement.
(b) Immunity is not waived if the injury arises out of, in connection with, or results from:
(i) a latent dangerous or latent defective condition of any highway, road, street, alley,
crosswalk, sidewalk, culvert, tunnel, bridge, viaduct, or other structure located on them; or
(ii) a latent dangerous or latent defective condition of any public building, structure, dam,
reservoir, or other public improvement.
(4) Immunity from suit of each governmental entity is waived as to any injury
proximately caused by a negligent act or omission of an employee committed within the scope of
employment.
(5) Immunity is not waived under Subsections (3) and (4) if the injury arises out of, in
connection with, or results from:
(a) the exercise or performance, or the failure to exercise or perform, a discretionary
function, whether or not the discretion is abused;
(b) assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, malicious prosecution, intentional
trespass, abuse of process, libel, slander, deceit, interference with contract rights, infliction of
mental anguish, or violation of civil rights;
(c) the issuance, denial, suspension, or revocation of, or by the failure or refusal to issue,
deny, suspend, or revoke, any permit, license, certificate, approval, order, or similar
authorization;
(d) a failure to make an inspection or by making an inadequate or negligent inspection;
(e) the institution or prosecution of any judicial or administrative proceeding, even if
malicious or without probable cause;
(f) a misrepresentation by an employee whether or not it is negligent or intentional;
(g) riots, unlawful assemblies, public demonstrations, mob violence, and civil
disturbances;
(h) the collection of and assessment of taxes;
(i) the activities of the Utah National Guard;
(j) the incarceration of any person in any state prison, county or city jail, or other place of
legal confinement;
(k) any natural condition on publicly owned or controlled lands, any condition existing in
connection with an abandoned mine or mining operation, or any activity authorized by the School
and Institutional Trust Lands Administration or the Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands;
(l) research or implementation of cloud management or seeding for the clearing of fog;
(m) the management of flood waters, earthquakes, or natural disasters;
(n) the construction, repair, or operation of flood or storm systems;
(o) the operation of an emergency vehicle, while being driven in accordance with the
requirements of Section 41-6-14 ;
(p) the activities of:
(i) providing emergency medical assistance;
(ii) fighting fire;
(iii) regulating, mitigating, or handling hazardous materials or hazardous wastes;
(iv) emergency evacuations;
(v) transporting or removing injured persons to a place where emergency medical
assistance can be rendered or where the person can be transported by a licensed ambulance
service; or
(vi) intervening during dam emergencies;
(q) the exercise or performance, or the failure to exercise or perform, any function
pursuant to Title 73, Chapter 10, Board of Water Resources - Division of Water Resources; or
(r) unauthorized access to government records, data, or electronic information systems by
any person or entity.
Section 2. Section 63-90b-101 is enacted to read:
63-90b-101. Title.
This chapter is known as the "Utah Religious Land Use Act."
Section 3. Section 63-90b-102 is enacted to read:
63-90b-102. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Free exercise of religion" means an act or refusal to act that is substantially
motivated by sincere religious belief, whether or not the act or refusal is compulsory or central to
a larger system of religious belief, and includes the use, building, or conversion of real property
for the purpose of religious exercise.
(2) "Government entity" means the state, a county, a municipality, a higher education
institution, a special district, any other political subdivision of the state, or any administrative
subunit of any of them.
(3) "Land use regulation" means any state or local law or ordinance, whether statutory or
otherwise, that limits or restricts a person's use or development of land or a structure affixed to
land.
(4) "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity that
owns an interest in real property.
Section 4. Section 63-90b-201 is enacted to read:
63-90b-201. Protection of land use as religious exercise.
(1) Except as provided in Subsection (2), a government entity may not impose or
implement a land use regulation in a manner that imposes a substantial burden on a person's free
exercise of religion.
(2) A government entity may impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that
imposes a substantial burden on a person's free exercise of religion if the government can
establish that the imposition of the burden on that person:
(a) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and
(b) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.
(3) A government entity that meets the requirements of Subsection (2) need not
separately prove that the remedy and penalty provisions of the land use regulation are the least
restrictive means to ensure compliance or to punish the failure to comply.
(4) This act shall not impair the ability of local government to impose costs and fees
reasonably necessary to mitigate the off-site impacts of development.
Section 5. Section 63-90b-301 is enacted to read:
63-90b-301. Remedies.
(1) A person whose free exercise of religion has been substantially burdened by a
government entity in violation of Section 63-90b-201 may bring an action in the district court of
the county where the largest portion of the property subject to the land use regulation is located.
(2) Any person who asserts a claim or defense against a government entity under this
chapter may request:
(a) declaratory relief;
(b) temporary or permanent injunctive relief to prevent the threatened or continued
violation; or
(c) a combination of declaratory and injunctive relief.
(3) A person may not bring an action under this chapter against an individual, other than
an action against an individual acting in the individual's official capacity as an officer of a
government entity.
Section 6. Section 63-90b-302 is enacted to read:
63-90b-302. Notice of claim -- Government's right to accommodate.
(1) A person may not bring an action under Section 63-90b-301 unless, 60 days before
bringing the action, the person sends written notice of the intent to bring an action.
(2) The notice shall be addressed to the government entity imposing the land use
regulation, and shall be prepared and delivered according to the requirements of Subsection
63-30d-401 (3).
(3) Mailing of the notice required by Subsection (1) tolls the limitation period for
bringing an action under this chapter for a period of 75 days, starting on the day the notice was
mailed.
(4) Notwithstanding Subsection (1), a person may bring an action under Section
63-90b-301 before the expiration of the 60-day notice period if:
(a) the imposition of a substantial burden on the person's free exercise of religion by the
land use regulation is imminent; and
(b) the person was not informed of and did not otherwise have knowledge of the land use
regulation in time to reasonably provide 60 days notice.
(5) (a) A government entity provided with the notice required by Subsection (2) may
remedy the substantial burden on the person's free exercise of religion:
(i) before the expiration of the 60-day notice period; or
(ii) in the case of an action properly brought according to Subsection (4), before the
adjudication of a court hearing on the action.
(b) Nothing in this section prevents a government entity from providing a remedy after
these time periods.
(6) The court may not award compensatory damages, attorney's fees, costs, or other
expenses to a person if the substantial burden has been cured by a remedy implemented by the
government entity according to Subsection (5)(a).
Section 7. Section 63-90b-401 is enacted to read:
63-90b-401. Burden on exercise of religion as defense.
A person whose free exercise of religion has been substantially burdened in violation of
this chapter may assert that violation as a defense in a judicial or administrative proceeding
without regard to whether the proceeding is brought in the name of the state or by any other
person.
Section 8. Section 63-90b-402 is enacted to read:
63-90b-402. Establishment clause unaffected.
(1) This chapter does not authorize government to burden a person's free exercise of
religion.
(2) The protection of religious freedom afforded by this chapter is in addition to the
protections provided under federal law and the constitutions of Utah and the United States.
(3) Nothing in this chapter may be construed to affect, interpret, or in any way address
that portion of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibiting laws respecting
an establishment of religion.
Section 9. Section 63-90b-403 is enacted to read:
63-90b-403. Application to certain cases.
This chapter does not affect and is not intended to affect the authority of government
entities to adopt or apply land use regulations that do not involve the free exercise of religion.
Section 10. Section 78-12-29 is amended to read:
78-12-29. Within one year.
An action may be brought within one year:
(1) for liability created by the statutes of a foreign state;
(2) upon a statute for a penalty or forfeiture where the action is given to an individual, or
to an individual and the state, except when the statute imposing it prescribes a different
limitation;
(3) upon a statute, or upon an undertaking in a criminal action, for a forfeiture or penalty
to the state;
(4) for libel, slander, assault, battery, false imprisonment, or seduction;
(5) against a sheriff or other officer for the escape of a prisoner arrested or imprisoned
upon either civil or criminal process;
(6) against a municipal corporation for damages or injuries to property caused by a mob
or riot;
(7) on a claim for relief or a cause of action under the following sections of Title 25,
Chapter 6, Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act:
(a) Subsection 25-6-5 (1)(a), which in specific situations limits the time for action to four
years, under Section 25-6-10 ; or
(b) Subsection 25-6-6 (2); [
(8) except as otherwise expressly provided by statute, against a county legislative body or
a county executive to challenge a decision of the county legislative body or county executive,
respectively[
(9) on a claim for relief or a cause of action under Title 63, Chapter 90b, Utah Religious
Land Use Act.
Section 11. Application of act.
This chapter shall apply to all causes of action filed after the effective date of this bill and
to all land use regulations enacted after the effective date of this bill.
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