County Formation Amendments
HB 212 establishes a formal process for creating new counties in Utah, primarily affecting municipalities in large counties (population over 1 million) seeking to secede. It requires petitioning municipalities to meet population thresholds (at least one-third of the county's population), complete a feasibility study, and propose boundaries that avoid dividing cities or leaving the original county unable to function. The bill ensures new counties maintain the same local sales tax rates for transportation as the seceding county and clarifies how property taxes and debts will be handled during the transition. These changes aim to make county formation more structured and financially responsible while protecting the viability of both the new and remaining counties.
Bill status
failed
4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
Governor
Introduced Jan 20, 2026
Last action Mar 7, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons
What changed between versions
Amended 2/20/2026 14:02:838
→
Substitute #1
·
1 edit
MINOR
The bill text was reformatted to align with standard legislative markup conventions, replacing non-standard numbering and spacing with a clean, sequential structure. No substantive policy changes, new definitions, funding amounts, or eligibility criteria were introduced in this version.
TECHNICAL
Replaced inconsistent numbering and bracketed deletion markers with a clean, sequential format for readability.
Floor votes · House Feb 20, 2026
How they voted
This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
38
Key actions
5
Committee
6
Amendments
1
Feb 27, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate/ committee report favorable [Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee]
upper
Feb 27, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation [Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee]
upper
Feb 24, 2026
Committee
Senate/ to standing committee [Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee]
upper
Feb 23, 2026
Introduced
Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
upper
Feb 20, 2026
Upper · Passed
House/ passed 3rd reading
upper
Feb 20, 2026
Introduced
House/ floor amendment
lower
Feb 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
House/ comm rpt/ substituted [House Political Subdivisions Committee]
lower
Feb 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
House Comm - Favorable Recommendation [House Political Subdivisions Committee]
lower
Jan 28, 2026
Committee
House/ to standing committee [House Political Subdivisions Committee]
lower
Jan 20, 2026
Introduced
House/ 1st reading (Introduced)
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor
Sponsors
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