SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah — On June 1, Wasatch and Summit Counties were required to separate their council seats by districts and draw boundaries.
Summit County currently has all at-large seats, which means residents can vote for each of the five different council members.
Rep. Jordan Teuscher (R-South Jordan) said there can be an issue with this.
“If you have all at-large seats, then it means, if you have one or two really big cities, then they get to decide who represents the entire county, and those smaller cities or rural locations don't really have a voice in county government,” he said.
Summit County Manager Shayne Scot thinks this will bring many challenges for voters.
“This bill forces each of our council members, in its current form, to be part of a geographic district, which means everyone in that district will only be able to vote for one council member,” he said.
Not only this, but Scott said the districts will be divided by lot, which means council members will be chosen at random of which area they represent.
“We could have five people serving in our council, none of whom live in the area in which they serve,” he said.
Scott said Summit County has already started making changes, but Wasatch County has not, which could be breaking the new law.
Wasatch County said in a statement:
Wasatch County provided a letter to Governor Cox’s Office on March 18, 2025... stating our opposition to the currently approved version of HB356. In it, we outlined the significant issues it creates for Wasatch County, which we believe were unintentional.
It is our understanding that the Governor intended to veto the bill because of these impacts but chose not to do so after coordinating with both chambers of the legislature so that Wasatch County would be unaffected through an interim session amendment.
Given the assurances of the state legislative leadership and the Governor’s Office, we do not intend to make changes to our districts. And have suggested the following amendments to the bill language:
- 91 (9) A county of the third through sixth class with a council-manager form of government
- 92 that does not have five or more districts shall ensure that each council member:
- 93 (a)represents a single district, rather than being elected at large;
- 94 (b)is elected by a majority vote of voters residing within the member's district; and
- 95 (c)is a resident of the district the council member represents.
“Wasatch County is not even going through the process that we're going through, even though they are legally obligated to do so right now, because they've been told, 'Don't worry about it. We're going to change this bill and you're not going to be affected,'” Scott said.
Teuscher said Wasatch County already has several districted seats, and odds are the changes won’t even apply to them.
“If things change or pivot, there's plenty of time for them to get their committee in place and get those districts in place, but they're a lot further ahead in the game anyway,” he said.
Scott believes they should have the opportunity to ask the legislature for changes.
“Can we work together on how we can assign our council members to be in a district that makes more sense, so they can run for re-election in their district if they choose to do so?” he said.
Teuscher said so far, that sounds reasonable, and a special session is set to take place in the fall to discuss changes.
