A bill that creates a new process allowing for cities to break off from Salt Lake County didn’t pass during the 2026 legislative session after all.
Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, announced on Monday that after a legislative review, HB212 didn’t pass “within the constitutionally required timeframe.” Legislative records show that the bill has been removed from being prepared for filing.
Utah senators were still voting on the bill when the clock struck midnight during the final day of the legislative session. Senate spokesperson Aundrea Peterson told KSL on Saturday that it was initially considered valid because it received at least 15 votes before midnight.
However, Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Millcreek, who opposed the legislation, called the bill illegal on social media because it was passed after midnight. The Utah Constitution specifies that a general session may not last beyond 45 days.
Senate leadership ultimately agreed that — even with 15 votes before midnight — the bill didn’t pass because time had run out on the session before the vote concluded.
“At the conclusion of the general session, all legislation undergoes review to ensure compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements,” Adams added.
HB212, sponsored by Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, would have established a process for a petitioning a municipality to initiate a new county within counties with at least 1 million people, which would only apply to Salt Lake County at the moment. It outlined a few requirements for a new county, including a provision that the new county has at least one-third of the county population at the time of the last census.
It had cleared the House of Representatives with a 56-10 vote on Feb. 20, but it was not considered until the final hour of the session on Friday. The initial vote failed with 32 minutes left in the session, as some voiced concerns over rural properties included in the bill language.
“Eighty-five percent of our Legislature reside in four counties, and I — and many of our rural colleagues — cover many counties,” said Sen. Derrin Owens, R-Fountain Green. “I have 10 counties now and don’t need another one.”
It appeared to be the end of the bill until Sen. Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, who initially voted against the bill, asked for the Senate to reconsider the bill with a few minutes left in the session. Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, the floor’s sponsor, quickly explained that the bill would not apply to rural counties, and the section only applies to a rural owner within Salt Lake County.
Four senators reversed their votes, but not in time. It appears the vote likely would have passed before midnight, but there was a 10-second delay in getting the bill reuploaded to the Senate reading calendar. That’s on top of a few other minor delays in getting all the votes calculated, although Blouin asserted that he wasn’t allowed time to debate the bill before the vote.
He took to social media again on Monday to celebrate the ruling.
“This would have slipped by potentially with no one raising a concern or noticing had we not stood up and called it out. Accountability, transparency and process do matter,” he wrote.
This marks the second-straight year that an effort to break up Utah’s most populous county has failed. A similar bill was introduced last year, but it failed to make it out of the House Rules Committee for consideration.
Contributing: Daniel Woodruff