Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 262 First Substitute (2024GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Snider, C.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/12/2024

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Spencer J. Cox

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• clarifies that the state may sell or lease land to state entities for fair market value;
• exempts the sale or lease of certain large aggregations of trust lands from advertising requirements and mineral rights restrictions;
• excludes certain lands from sale or lease; and
• requires rulemaking for determining the fair market value of trust lands.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

SCHOOL AND INSTITUTIONAL TRUST LANDS
AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Casey Snider
Senate Sponsor: 
____________
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill makes changes relating to the State Institutional Trust Lands Management Act.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ clarifies that the state may sell or lease land to state entities for fair market value;
▸ exempts the sale or lease of certain large aggregations of trust lands from
advertising requirements and mineral rights restrictions;
▸ excludes certain lands from sale or lease; and
▸ requires rulemaking for determining the fair market value of trust lands.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
53C-1-102
, as repealed and reenacted by Laws of Utah 1994, Chapter 294
ENACTS:
53C-4-104
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
53C-1-102
 is amended to read:
53C-1-102.
Purpose.
(1) (a) The purpose of this title is to establish an administration and board to manage
lands that Congress granted to the state for the support of common schools and other
beneficiary institutions, under the Utah Enabling Act.
(b) This grant was expressly accepted in the Utah Constitution, thereby creating a
compact between the federal and state governments which imposes upon the state a perpetual
trust obligation to which standard trust principles are applied.
(c) Title to these trust lands is vested in the state as trustee to be administered for the
financial support of the trust beneficiaries.
(2) (a) The trust principles referred to in Subsection (1) impose fiduciary duties upon
the state, including a duty of undivided loyalty to, and a strict requirement to administer the
trust corpus for the exclusive benefit of, the trust beneficiaries.
(b) As trustee, the state must manage the lands and revenues generated from the lands
in the most prudent and profitable manner possible, and not for any purpose inconsistent with
the best interests of the trust beneficiaries.
(c) The trustee must be concerned with both income for the current beneficiaries and
the preservation of trust assets for future beneficiaries, which requires a balancing of short and
long-term interests so that long-term benefits are not lost in an effort to maximize short-term
gains.
(d) The beneficiaries do not include other governmental institutions or agencies, the
public at large, or the general welfare of this state.
(3) The leasing or selling of trust lands to other state governmental institutions or
agencies is consistent with the fiduciary duties of the state, if the state obtains at least fair
market value for the lease or sale of the trust lands.
[
(3)
] 
(4)
 This title shall be liberally construed to enable the board of trustees, the
director, and the administration to faithfully fulfill the state's obligations to the trust
beneficiaries.
Section 2. Section 
53C-4-104
 is enacted to read:
 53C-4-104.
Sale or lease of trust lands to state entities -- Disposition of mineral
estate -- Excluded lands -- Fair market value.
(1) (a) The director may sell or lease to the Utah Department of Natural Resources an
aggregation of more than 5,000 acres of trust lands, if the Utah Department of Natural
Resources pays at least fair market value for the sale or lease.
(b) The director may make an aggregation of more than 5,000 acres of trust lands
described in this section by selecting a single, contiguous parcel or combining multiple parcels,
with individual parcels no farther apart than two miles.
(c) The director may complete a sale or lease described in this section without
complying with the following provisions, if the director and the board of trustees determine
that waiving the provisions is in the best interest of the beneficiaries:
(i) the advertising requirements described in Subsection 
53C-4-102
(3); or
(ii) the restrictions on the sale of mineral rights described in Section 
53C-2-401
.
(2) The director may not include the following lands in a sale or lease described in this
section:
(a) Township 1 South, Range 8 West, USM;
(b) Township 1 South, Range 9 West, USM; or
(c) Township 1 South, Range 10 West, USM.
(3) (a) The director shall make rules, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah
Administrative Rulemaking Act, for determining the fair market value of trust lands, including
mineral interests, for a sale or lease described in this section.
(b) The rules adopted by the director:
(i) shall establish the procedure for determining the fair market value of the trust lands;
(ii) may provide that an appraisal, as that term is defined in Section 
61-2g-102
,
demonstrates the fair market value of the trust lands;
(iii) shall require the director to obtain at least one third-party appraisal in the
procedure established in this Subsection (3); and
(iv) may require that additional appraisals be completed by a state-certified general
appraiser, as that term is defined in Section 
61-2g-102
.
Section 3. 
Effective date.
This bill takes effect on May 1, 2024.