Utah Code § 53G-3-501 — Utah Code / Title 53G / Chapter 53G-3 / § 53G-3-501
§ 53G-3-501. Transfer of a portion of a school district -- Required boundary adjustments -- Local school board petition -- Elector petition -- Certification of petition signatures -- Removal of signature -- Transfer election.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) Part of a school district may be transferred to another district in one of the following ways: (i) presentation to the county legislative body of each of the affected counties of a resolution requesting the transfer, approved by at least four-fifths of the members of the local school board of each affected school district; (ii) presentation to the county legislative body of each affected county of a petition requesting that the voters vote on the transfer, signed by a majority of the members of the local school board of each affected school district; (iii) presentation to the county legislative body of each affected county of a petition requesting that the voters vote on the transfer, signed by 15% of the registered voters in each of the affected school districts within that county; or (iv) for a boundary adjustment required under Subsection (2) or (3), submission to the county legislative body of each of the affected counties of a resolution requesting the transfer from the local school board of the school district that is required to initiate the boundary adjustment. (b) The first page of a petition described in Subsection (1)(a)(iii) shall include the following statement in at least the same size type as the majority of the other statements on the page:"WARNING TO SIGNERS WITH PRIVATE VOTER REGISTRATION RECORDSIf you sign this petition, your voter identification number and the date you signed may be publicly disclosed. This disclosure may occur even if you are an at-risk voter with a voter registration record that has been classified as a private record." (2) (a) As used in this Subsection (2): (i) "Expansion area" means the area of land approved for annexation and located outside the boundaries of a specified school district. (ii) "Municipality" means a city or town. (iii) "Originating school district" means the school district whose boundaries an expansion area is located within prior to the boundary adjustment required under Subsection (2)(b). (iv) "Specified school district" means a school district: (A) that serves residents within a single municipality; and (B) for which the municipality whose residents the school district serves enacts an ordinance in accordance with Title 10, Chapter 2, Part 8, Annexation, approving the annexation of an area of land located outside the boundaries of the school district. (b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter and except as provided in Subsection (2)(c)(ii), the local school board of a specified school district shall initiate boundary adjustment proceedings under Subsection (1)(a)(iv): (i) to request the expansion area to be transferred to the specified school district from the originating school district; and (ii) by submitting the resolution requesting the transfer, as provided in Subsection (1)(a)(iv), within 60 days after the day on which the municipality enacts the ordinance approving annexation of the expansion area. (c) (i) Before initiating the boundary adjustment required under Subsection (2)(b), the local school board presidents of the specified school district and the originating school district shall, within the timeframe described in Subsection (2)(b)(ii), meet to determine whether allowing the expansion area to remain within the boundaries of the originating school district is in the best interests of the municipality's residents. (ii) The requirements of Subsection (2)(b) do not apply to a specified school district if, upon meeting under Subsection (2)(c)(i), the presidents of the local school boards mutually agree that allowing the expansion area to remain within the boundaries of the originating school district is in the best interests of the municipality's residents. (3) (a) This Subsection (3) applies to a school district that: (i) serves residents within a single municipality; and (ii) in calendar year 2018, completed construction on a secondary school within an area of land located outside the boundaries of the school district. (b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the local school board of a school district described in Subsection (3)(a) shall initiate boundary adjustment proceedings under Subsection (1)(a)(iv): (i) to request the land described in Subsection (3)(a)(ii) to be transferred to the school district from the school district whose boundaries the land is located within; and (ii) by submitting the resolution requesting the transfer, as provided in Subsection (1)(a)(iv), on or before June 1, 2024. (4) If a registered voter petition is presented to the county legislative body under Subsection (1)(a)(iii): (a) within three business days after the day on which the county legislative body receives the petition, the county legislative body shall provide the petition to the county clerk; and (b) within 14 days after the day on which a county clerk receives a petition from the county legislative body, the county clerk shall: (i) use the procedures described in Section 20A-1-1002 to determine whether the petition satisfies the requirements of Subsection (1)(a)(iii) for a registered voter petition; (ii) certify on the petition whether each name is that of a registered voter in one of the affected districts; and (iii) deliver the certified petition to the county legislative body. (5) (a) A voter who signs a registered voter petition under Subsection (1)(a)(iii) may have the voter's signature removed from the petition by, no later than three business days after the day on which the county legislative body provides the petition to the county clerk, submitting to the county clerk a statement requesting that the voter's signature be removed. (b) A statement described in Subsection (5)(a) shall comply with the requirements described in Subsection 20A-1-1003(2). (c) The county clerk shall use the procedures described in Subsection 20A-1-1003(3) to determine whether to remove an individual's signature from a petition after receiving a timely, valid statement requesting removal of the signature. (6) (a) The voters of each affected district shall vote on the transfer requested under Subsection (1)(a)(ii) or (iii) at an election called for that purpose, which may be the next general election. (b) The election shall be conducted and the returns canvassed as provided by election law. (c) A transfer is effected only if a majority of votes cast by the voters in both the proposed transferor district and in the proposed transferee district are in favor of the transfer.