36-1 - Legislative Districts

Title 36 > 36-1

Sections (13)

Utah State Senate

36-1-101.1 - Definitions.

As used in this part:

.1(1) “Senate shapefile” means the electronic shapefile designated as SB0145_shapefile.zip that stores the boundary of each of the 29 Utah State Senate districts.

.1(2) “Shapefile” means the digital vector storage format for storing geometric location and associated attribute information.

Amended by Chapter 132, 2025 General Session

36-1-101.5 - Utah State Senate — District boundaries.

.5(1) The Utah State Senate shall consist of 29 members, with one member to be elected from each Utah State Senate district.

.5(2) The Legislature adopts the official census population figures and maps of the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce developed in connection with the taking of the 2020 national decennial census as the official data for establishing Senate district boundaries.

.5(3) Notwithstanding Subsection (2), the Legislature enacts the district numbers and boundaries of the Senate districts designated in the Senate shapefile that is the electronic component of this bill.The Legislature shall ensure that the Senate shapefile is accessible on the Utah Legislature’s website.

Amended by Chapter 132, 2025 General Session

36-1-102 - Election of senators — Staggered terms.

Unless otherwise provided by law, and notwithstanding Subsection 20A-1-503(3) :

(1) voters in the following districts, as designated in the Senate shapefile, shall elect a senator for a term of four years:at the 2022 General Election, Senate Districts 1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, and 28; andat the 2024 General Election, Senate Districts 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 29; and

(2) a senator representing a district described in Subsection (1)(b) on November 16, 2021, shall represent the realigned district, if the senator resides in the realigned district, for a term of office that ends January 1, 2025.

Amended by Chapter 132, 2025 General Session

36-1-103 - Senate districts — Filing — Legal boundaries.

(1) The Legislature shall file a copy of the Senate shapefile enacted by the Legislature with the lieutenant governor’s office.The legal boundaries of Senate districts are contained in the Senate shapefile on file with the lieutenant governor’s office.

(2) The lieutenant governor shall:verify the Senate shapefile that the Legislature files under Subsection (1) using the file hash security code of “8c43518875904b22a5f75f1a4520c48d”;generate maps of each Utah State Senate district from the Senate shapefile; andensure that the district maps are available for viewing on the lieutenant governor’s website.If there is any inconsistency between the district maps and the Senate shapefile, the Senate shapefile is controlling.

Amended by Chapter 132, 2025 General Session

36-1-103.2 - County clerk, Utah Geospatial Resource Center, and lieutenant governor responsibilities — Maps and voting precinct boundaries.

.2(1) As used in this section, “redistricting boundary data” means the Senate shapefile in the possession of the lieutenant governor’s office.

.2(2) Each county clerk shall obtain a copy of the redistricting boundary data for the clerk’s county from the lieutenant governor’s office.

.2(3) A county clerk may create one or more county maps that identify the boundaries of Senate districts as generated from the redistricting boundary data.Before publishing or distributing any map or data created by the county clerk that identifies the boundaries of Senate districts within the county, the clerk shall submit the county map and data to the lieutenant governor and to the Utah Geospatial Resource Center for review.Within 30 days after receipt of a county map and data from a county clerk, the Utah Geospatial Resource Center shall:review the county map and data to evaluate if the county map and data accurately reflect the boundaries of Senate districts established by the Legislature in the redistricting boundary data;determine whether the county map and data are correct or incorrect; andcommunicate those findings to the lieutenant governor.The lieutenant governor shall either notify the county clerk that the county map and data are correct or notify the county clerk that the county map and data are incorrect.If the county clerk receives notice from the lieutenant governor that the county map and data submitted are incorrect, the county clerk shall:make the corrections necessary to conform the county map and data to the redistricting boundary data; andresubmit the corrected county map and data to the lieutenant governor and to the Utah Geospatial Resource Center for a new review under this Subsection (3).

.2(4) Subject to the requirements of this Subsection (4), each county clerk shall establish voting precincts and polling places within each Senate district according to the procedures and requirements of Section 20A-5-303.Within five working days after approval of voting precincts and polling places by the county legislative body as required by Section 20A-5-303, each county clerk shall submit a voting precinct map identifying the boundaries of each voting precinct within the county to the lieutenant governor and to the Utah Geospatial Resource Center for review.Within 30 days after receipt of a voting precinct map from a county clerk, the Utah Geospatial Resource Center shall:review the voting precinct map to evaluate if the voting precinct map accurately reflects the boundaries of Senate districts established by the Legislature in the redistricting boundary data;determine whether the voting precinct map is correct or incorrect; andcommunicate those findings to the lieutenant governor.The lieutenant governor shall either notify the county clerk that the voting precinct map is correct or notify the county clerk that the map is incorrect.If the county clerk receives notice from the lieutenant governor that the voting precinct map is incorrect, the county clerk shall:make the corrections necessary to conform the voting precinct map to the redistricting boundary data; andresubmit the corrected voting precinct map to the lieutenant governor and to the Utah Geospatial Resource Center for a new review under this Subsection (4).

Amended by Chapter 11, 2021 Special Session 2

36-1-104 - Omissions from maps — How resolved.

(1) If any area of the state is omitted from a Utah State Senate district in the Senate shapefile in the possession of the lieutenant governor’s office, the county clerk of the affected county, upon discovery of the omission, shall attach the area to the appropriate Senate district according to the requirements of Subsections (2) and (3).

(2) If the omitted area is surrounded by a single Senate district, the county clerk shall attach the area to that district.

(3) If the omitted area is contiguous to two or more Senate districts, the county clerk shall attach the area to the district that has the least population, as determined by the Utah Population Committee.

(4) The county clerk shall certify in writing and file with the lieutenant governor any attachment made under this section.

Amended by Chapter 11, 2021 Special Session 2

36-1-105 - Uncertain boundaries — How resolved.

(1) As used in this section:“Affected party” means:a senator whose Utah State Senate district boundary is uncertain because the feature used to establish the district boundary in the Senate shapefile has been removed, modified, or is unable to be identified or who is uncertain about whether the senator or another individual resides in a particular Senate district;a candidate for senator whose Senate district boundary is uncertain because the feature used to establish the district boundary in the Senate shapefile has been removed, modified, or is unable to be identified or who is uncertain about whether the candidate or another individual resides in a particular Senate district; oran individual who is uncertain about which Senate district contains the individual’s residence because the feature used to establish the district boundary in the Senate shapefile has been removed, modified, or is unable to be identified.”Feature” means a geographic or other tangible or intangible mark such as a road or political subdivision boundary that is used to establish a Senate district boundary.

(2) An affected party may file a written request petitioning the lieutenant governor to determine:the precise location of the Senate district boundary;the number of the Senate district in which an individual resides; orboth Subsections (2)(a)(i) and (ii).In order to make the determination required by Subsection (2)(a), the lieutenant governor shall review:the Senate shapefile; andany other relevant data such as aerial photographs, aerial maps, or other data about the area.Within five days after the day on which the lieutenant governor receives the request described in Subsection (2)(a), the lieutenant governor shall:complete the review described in Subsection (2)(b); andmake a determination.When the lieutenant governor determines the location of the Senate district boundary, the lieutenant governor shall:prepare a certification identifying the appropriate Senate district boundary and attaching a map, if necessary; andsend a copy of the certification to:the affected party;the county clerk of the affected county; andthe Utah Geospatial Resource Center created under Section 63A-16-505.If the lieutenant governor determines the number of the Senate district in which a particular individual resides, the lieutenant governor shall send a letter identifying that district by number to:the individual;the affected party who filed the petition, if different than the individual whose Senate district number was identified; andthe county clerk of the affected county.

Amended by Chapter 132, 2025 General Session

Utah House of Representatives

36-1-201.1 - Definitions.

As used in this part:

.1(1) “Census block” means any one of the 71,207 individual geographic areas into which the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce has divided the state of Utah, to each of which the Bureau of the Census has attached a discrete population tabulation from the 2020 decennial census.

.1(2) “House block equivalency file” means the electronic file designated as HB2005_BEF.txt that assigns each of Utah’s 71,207 census blocks to a particular Utah State House of Representatives district.

.1(3) “House shapefile” means the electronic shapefile that: is the resulting projection of the House block equivalency file; andstores the boundary of each of the 75 Utah House of Representatives districts.

.1(4) “Shapefile” means the digital vector storage format for storing geometric location and associated attribute information.