Utah legislation · 2026 General Session
Utah SB240: Higher Education Institutional Governance
Status: Signed into law, March 19, 2026
This bill addresses roles and responsibilities of a higher education institution's board of trustees and president.
What the bill says
From the enrolled text, March 11, 2026:
0 Higher Education Institutional Governance 2026 GENERAL SESSION STATE OF UTAH Chief Sponsor: Chris H. Wilson House Sponsor: Casey Snider LONG TITLE General Description: This bill addresses roles and responsibilities of a higher education institution's board of trustees and president. Highlighted Provisions: This bill: - consolidates and reorganizes general duties of boards of trustees for institutions of higher education; - establishes certain aspects of the relationship between an institution's board of trustees and the institution's president, including: - organizational governance; - roles and responsibilities in the budgeting process; - faculty and personnel issues; and - presidential performance evaluation; - establishes the authority of the board of trustees over internal audits of an institution; - enacts provisions regarding a president's authority in relation to administrative roles, cabinet members, and the institution's general counsel; - enacts provisions regarding the duties of an institution's legal counsel, including requiring the Board of Higher Education to make rules regarding the scope of the role of an institution's legal counsel; - prohibits the president of an institution from retaining outside legal counsel for litigation; - amends the membership of a technical college board of trustees with a service region containing a certain number of school districts; - requires reporting of certain institutional compensation information; - amends provisions regarding agencies hiring and paying for outside legal counsel …
Sponsors
- Wilson, Chris H. (R, 2) · primary sponsor
- Snider, Casey (R, 5)
Latest actions
- : Governor Signed
- : Senate/ to Governor
- : Senate/ received enrolled bill from Printing
- : Senate/ enrolled bill to Printing
- : Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate
- : Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared
- : Bill Received from Senate for Enrolling
- : Senate/ signed by President/ sent for enrolling
- : Senate/ received from House
- : House/ to Senate
Votes
- House/ passed 3rd reading (March 4, 2026): 68 yea, 0 nay, passed
- House Comm - Favorable Recommendation (February 27, 2026): 8 yea, 0 nay, passed
- Senate/ passed 3rd reading (February 24, 2026): 21 yea, 2 nay, passed
- Senate/ passed 2nd reading (February 23, 2026): 25 yea, 1 nay, passed
- Senate Comm - Substitute Recommendation (February 6, 2026): 3 yea, 0 nay, passed
- Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation (February 6, 2026): 4 yea, 1 nay, passed
Subjects: Government Operations (State Issues), Technical Colleges, Education, Higher Education Students, Utah System of Higher Education, Governance, Constitutional Officers, Higher Education
Common questions
- What is SB240?
- SB240 is a bill in the Utah Legislature (2026 General Session): Higher Education Institutional Governance.
- What does SB240 do?
- This bill addresses roles and responsibilities of a higher education institution's board of trustees and president.
- What is the status of SB240?
- Signed into law as of March 19, 2026. Latest action: Governor Signed (March 19, 2026).
- Who sponsored SB240?
- Wilson, Chris H. (R, 2), with 1 co-sponsor.
- Where is the official record for SB240?
- On the Utah Legislature website: https://le.utah.gov/~2026/bills/static/SB0240.html
Source: official Utah record. Tracked by Delilah, AI for legislation across all 50 states and Congress.