53D-2 - Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Office

Title 53D > 53D-2

Sections (5)

General Provisions

53D-2-102 - Definitions.

As used in this chapter: 53D-2-102(1) “Advocacy committee” means the Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Committee, created in Section 53D-2-202. 53D-2-102(2) “Advocacy director” means the director of the advocacy office, appointed as described in Section 53D-2-203. 53D-2-102(3) “Advocacy office” means the Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Office, created in Section 53D-2-201. 53D-2-102(4) “School and institutional trust” or “trust” includes:

school and institutional trust lands, as defined in Section 53C-1-103, and related assets; and funds and investments of school and institutional trust land revenue, as described in Title 53D, Chapter 1, School and Institutional Trust Fund Management Act. 53D-2-102(5) “School and Institutional Trust System” means:

the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, described in Title 53C, School and Institutional Trust Lands Management Act; the School and Institutional Trust Fund Office, described in Title 53D, Chapter 1, School and Institutional Trust Fund Management Act; the Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Office, described in this chapter; and the School LAND Trust Program, described in Sections 53F-2-404 and 53G-7-1206. 53D-2-102(6) “Trust beneficiaries” means those for whose benefit the school and institutional trust is managed and preserved, as required by:

the Utah Enabling Act; the Utah Constitution; and state law.

Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Office

53D-2-201 - Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Office — State treasurer oversight and rulemaking — Advocacy office duties — Applicability of Government Access and Records Management Act.

53D-2-201(1) There is created the Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Office to represent the beneficiary interests of the school and institutional trust in advocating for:

distribution of trust revenue to current beneficiaries; and generation of trust revenue for future beneficiaries. 53D-2-201(2) The state treasurer shall:

acting in a fiduciary capacity to trust beneficiaries, oversee and support the advocacy of the advocacy office, including: determining reporting requirements for the advocacy director and advocacy office; and submitting an advocacy office budget to the Legislature; and in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, and this chapter, make rules to administer the advocacy office, including the duties described in Subsection (2)(a). 53D-2-201(3) The advocacy office shall have an advocacy director, as described in Section 53D-2-203. 53D-2-201(4) In accordance with the Utah Enabling Act, the Utah Constitution, and state law, the advocacy office shall act with undivided loyalty to the trust beneficiaries, advocating against the state using a trust asset to pursue a state goal that is inconsistent with a purpose of the trust associated with that asset. 53D-2-201(5) To protect current and future beneficiary rights and interests as described in Subsection (1), the advocacy office shall advocate for:

productive use of and optimal revenue from school and institutional trust lands by the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, as described in Title 53C, School and Institutional Trust Lands Management Act; prudent and profitable investment of trust funds by the School and Institutional Trust Fund Office, as described in Title 53D, Chapter 1, School and Institutional Trust Fund Management Act; effective distribution of funds to public schools through the School LAND Trust Program described in Sections 53F-2-404 and 53G-7-1206; and optimization of revenue to all trust beneficiaries. 53D-2-201(6) To fulfill the advocacy office’s duties to trust beneficiaries, the advocacy office shall:

stay informed on the administration of the trust and trust assets, including: major School and Institutional Trust Land Administration transactions; and the School and Institutional Trust Fund Office investments and investment policy statements; fulfill advocacy office responsibilities and manage advocacy office activities in a prudent and professional manner; promote efficient use of trust budgets for trust beneficiaries; and properly account to trust beneficiaries and the Legislature, as described in Section 53D-2-203. 53D-2-201(7) Except as provided in Subsection (7)(b), the advocacy office and the advocacy committee are subject to Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act. The advocacy office and the advocacy committee are not subject to Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act, regarding a record described in Subsection 53D-1-103(3)(a) that the School and Institutional Trust Fund Office provides to the advocacy office or advocacy committee.

53D-2-202 - Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Committee — Duties — Governance.

53D-2-202(1) There is created the Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Committee to:

oversee the activities of the advocacy director and the advocacy office; submit advocacy director candidate names to the state treasurer, as described in Section 53D-2-203; determine the advocacy director’s compensation and annually review the compensation and performance of the advocacy director; receive quarterly reports from the advocacy director; review, amend as necessary, and transmit to the state treasurer proposed rules submitted by the advocacy director; receive the annual report described in Section 53D-2-203 from the advocacy director; and give policy direction to the advocacy office. 53D-2-202(2) In accordance with Subsection (3), the advocacy committee consists of the following five members:

two individuals appointed by the School and Institutional Trust Lands Board of Trustees; one individual appointed by the School and Institutional Trust Fund Board of Trustees; one individual appointed by the state treasurer; and a State Board of Education staff member who administers the School LAND Trust Program, designated as described in Section 53G-7-1206. 53D-2-202(3) A member of the advocacy committee:

may not be: the state treasurer or a current employee of the state treasurer; a member of the School and Institutional Trust Lands Board of Trustees; an employee of the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration; a member of the School and Institutional Trust Fund Board of Trustees; or an employee of the School and Institutional Trust Fund Office; shall have significant qualifications related to the purposes and activities of the school and institutional trust, such as: nonrenewable resource development; renewable resource management; real estate development; or investment management; and shall have demonstrated a commitment of time and loyalty to the purposes of the trust. 53D-2-202(4) Except as provided in Subsections (4)(b) and (c), an appointed member of the advocacy committee shall: serve a four-year term; and receive notification of an appointment on or before December 1 of the year before the vacancy occurs for which the member is appointed. At the time of appointment or reappointment, the state treasurer shall adjust the length of the initial terms of the advocacy committee’s appointed members to ensure that the terms are staggered so that approximately half of the advocacy committee is appointed every two years. If a vacancy occurs during the course of an appointed member’s term, the appointing entity shall immediately appoint a replacement for the unexpired term. 53D-2-202(5) Advocacy committee members shall annually elect a chair. 53D-2-202(6) The advocacy committee shall meet at least quarterly, at a time set by the chair. The chair or any two members of the advocacy committee may call an additional meeting. 53D-2-202(7) A quorum for the transaction of business is four members of the advocacy committee. Action by a majority of a quorum present constitutes the action of the advocacy committee. 53D-2-202(8) An advocacy committee member may not receive compensation or benefits for the member’s service, but may receive per diem and travel expenses in accordance with:

Section 63A-3-106; Section 63A-3-107; and rules made by the Division of Finance pursuant to Sections 63A-3-106 and 63A-3-107. 53D-2-202(9) The state treasurer’s office shall provide staff support to the advocacy committee.

53D-2-203 - Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Office director — Appointment — Removal — Power and duties.

53D-2-203(1) The advocacy committee shall:discuss candidates who may qualify for appointment as the advocacy director, as described in Subsection (1)(b);determine the two most qualified candidates; andsubmit the names of those two candidates to the state treasurer as potential appointees for the advocacy director.A potential appointee for advocacy director shall have significant expertise and qualifications relating to generating revenue to the school and institutional trust and the duties of the advocacy office and the advocacy director, which may include expertise in:business;finance;economics;natural resources; oradvocacy.From the individuals described in Subsection (1)(a), the state treasurer shall appoint one as the advocacy director. 53D-2-203(2) An advocacy director shall serve a four-year term.If a vacancy occurs in the advocacy director’s position, the advocacy committee and state treasurer shall, in accordance with Subsection (1), appoint a replacement director for a four-year term. 53D-2-203(3) The advocacy committee may remove the advocacy director during a meeting that is not closed as described in Section 52-4-204, if:removal of the advocacy director is scheduled on the agenda for the meeting; anda majority of a committee quorum votes to remove the advocacy director. 53D-2-203(4) In accordance with state and federal law, the advocacy director may attend a presentation, discussion, meeting, or other gathering related to the school and institutional trust. 53D-2-203(5) In order to fulfill the duties of the advocacy office described in Section 53D-2-201, the advocacy director shall:maintain a direct relationship with each individual who is key to fulfilling the state’s trustee obligations and duties related to the trust;facilitate open communication among key individuals described in Subsection (5)(a);actively seek necessary and accurate information;review and, if necessary, recommend the state auditor audit, activities involved in:generating trust revenue;protecting trust assets; ordistributing funds for the exclusive use of trust beneficiaries;promote accurate record keeping of all records relevant to the trust and distribution to trust beneficiaries;report at least quarterly to the advocacy committee and the state treasurer on the current activities of the advocacy office;annually submit a proposed advocacy office budget to the state treasurer;regarding the trust’s compliance with law, and among the School and Institutional Trust Lands System as a whole, report annually to:the advocacy committee;the state treasurer;the State Board of Education; andthe Executive Appropriations Committee;annually send a financial report regarding the relevant individual trust, and, upon request, report in person to:Utah State University, on behalf of the agricultural college trust;the University of Utah;the Utah State Hospital, on behalf of the mental hospital trust;the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, on behalf of the schools for the deaf and blind trusts;the youth in care program at the State Board of Education, on behalf of the reform school trust;the Division of Water Resources, created in Section 73-10-18, on behalf of the reservoir trust;the College of Mines and Earth Sciences created in Section 53H-4-208;each state teachers’ college, based on the college’s annual number of teacher graduates, on behalf of the normal school trust;the Miners’ Hospital described in Section 53H-4-207; andthe State Capitol Preservation Board, created in Section 63O-2-201, on behalf of the public buildings trust;as requested by the state treasurer, draft proposed rules and submit the proposed rules to the advocacy committee for review;in accordance with state and federal law, respond to external requests for information about the School and Institutional Trust Lands System;in accordance with state and federal law, speak on behalf of trust beneficiaries:at School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration meetings;at School and Institutional Trust Fund Office meetings; andwith the media;review proposed legislation that affects the school and institutional trust and trust beneficiaries and advocate for legislative change that best serves the interests of the trust beneficiaries; andeducate the public regarding the School and Institutional Trust Lands System. 53D-2-203(6) With regard to reviewing the activities described in Subsection (5)(d), the advocacy director may have access to the financial reports and other data required for a review.

53D-2-204 - Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Account — Funding of advocacy office operations.

53D-2-204(1) As used in this section:

“Account” means the Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Account created in this section. “School and Institutional Trust Fund Office director” or “SITFO director” means the director of the School and Institutional Trust Fund Office, appointed under Section 53D-1-401. “Trust fund” means the same as that term is defined in Section 53D-1-102. “Trust fund earnings” means the same as that term is defined in Section 53D-1-203. 53D-2-204(2) There is created an enterprise fund known as the Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Account. 53D-2-204(3) The account is funded by money deposited into the account as provided in Subsection (4). 53D-2-204(4) Except as provided in Subsection (4)(c), the SITFO director shall deposit into the account a total amount of money, taken proportionately from trust fund earnings according to the value of the various funds established for the trust beneficiaries, that is equal to the annual appropriation that the Legislature makes to the advocacy office. The advocacy office may use money in the account to pay for the advocacy office’s operating costs. If the amount of money deposited into the account under Subsection (4)(a) in any fiscal year exceeds the amount required by the advocacy office during that fiscal year to fund advocacy office operations, the SITFO director shall, in the following fiscal year, reduce the amount deposited into the account under Subsection (4)(a) by the amount of the unspent appropriation.