“While I agree with much of the original intent of the bill, I believe the final version of the bill creates some unintended consequences,” Gov. Spencer Cox said in a letter to Utah legislative leaders March 27.
House Bill 356 requires the all at-large Summit County Council to divide into five districts, and the districting commission must be formed by June.
It’s been praised by some county Republicans for encouraging ideological diversity on the all-Democrat council.
Some on the eastside hope for more geographic representation too, although the districts will need to be proportionate according to population and may contain between 8,000 and 9,000 people each.
But as written, HB356 affects other Utah counties too, including Wasatch County. It has a mix of districts and at-large representatives; it's now required to have only districts.
Wasatch County had asked the governor for a veto, saying the unintended consequences should be addressed before the bill is implemented.
Cox said there will be a special session to address those concerns. It’s within the Utah governor’s power to convene legislators between general sessions, which happen at the beginning of every calendar year.
“I have worked with the sponsor and legislative leadership to make arrangements for these changes to avoid the unintended consequences,” he said.
HB356 was sponsored by South Jordan GOP Rep. Jordan Teuscher.
According to Deputy Summit County Manager Janna Young, it began as a bill about Utah County’s form of government, and then provisions changing Cache County’s government and Summit County’s were added.
In the end, everything else got cut but the language aimed at Summit County, the only county with a council that is entirely at-large.
Current Summit County councilmembers and staff, particularly Young, criticized the process.
She said it wasn’t transparent and undoes what was a voter decision in 2006 to form the at-large county council.
Meanwhile, in Cache County, the council is forming a committee to think about revising its form of government.
The Herald Journal reports some of Cache County wants to return to a county commission form of government, but one councilmember called it “a solution in search of a problem.”
Cache County representatives alleged they were added to HB356 after a “backroom deal,” but since they were removed, their committee will have a year to study the pros and cons of councils and commissions.
The final version of HB356 ultimately passed three minutes before the 2025 General Session ended.
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