# Utah H.B. 194: Utah State Board of Education Ethics Amendments Utah H.B. 194, Utah State Board of Education Ethics Amendments, is a 2026 General Session House bill sponsored by Sahara Hayes (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-03-19 (Governor Signed); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-19). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB194-2026GS - As of: 2026-10-19 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Utah H.B. 194 - State: Utah - Session: 2026 General Session - Title: Utah State Board of Education Ethics Amendments - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2026-01-08 - Last action: 2026-03-19, Governor Signed - Sponsor: Sahara Hayes (Democratic) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Education, Ethics, State Board of Education - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 7 (177 yes, 5 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 7 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Independent commission reviews education board ethics: benefit, low. The law creates a five-member independent commission to review ethics complaints against Utah education board members. The board appoints Utah registered voters by majority vote from board leadership's nominations. Members include two former judges, two former board members out of office for at lea… - Cleared education board members get legal reimbursement: mixed, low. People filing ethics complaints must pay their own attorney fees and costs. Respondent education board members generally pay their own legal costs too. The board must pay a respondent's reasonable fees and costs if the commission recommends no allegation for board review. It must also pay if the bo… - Education board complaints face filing limits: mixed, low. Complaints against current Utah education board members require at least two board-member filers with supporting evidence or sworn testimony, or two Utah registered voters living in the state. Voter filers must include someone with personal knowledge of each claim, and complaints need signatures, s… - Education ethics complaints stay largely private: mixed, low. People handling education board ethics complaints generally cannot disclose their existence, contents or related allegations during review. Exceptions cover public referrals, possible crimes reported to law enforcement, defense needs, necessary commission work and a respondent's disclosure that no… - Education ethics hearings require evidence safeguards: mixed, low. Respondents have 30 days after delivery to submit a sworn response with defenses, supporting facts, documents and witness details; motions to disqualify commissioners generally have 20-day deadlines. After accepting a complaint, the chair must schedule a meeting within 10 days, hold it within 60 da… - Utah education board faces ethics rules: mixed, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah State Board of Education members must follow new ethics rules and complete key training exercises annually. The rules ban misuse of office, confidential information or board resources; student-privacy violations; discrimination, harassment and retaliation; and paid lobby… - Utah education board gains discipline powers: mixed, low. Board leadership must schedule review within five calendar days of receiving a commission recommendation and hold it within 30 days. Review covers only commission-proved claims, and a public roll-call majority must find clear and convincing evidence before imposing discipline. For each proved claim… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Sahara Hayes (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: John D. Johnson (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-03-06 | House | House/ concurs with Senate amendment | pass | 63 | 1 | | | 2026-03-06 | Senate | Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension | pass | 25 | 0 | | | 2026-02-25 | Senate | Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 4 | 0 | | | 2026-02-25 | Senate | Senate Comm - Amendment Recommendation | pass | 4 | 0 | | | 2026-02-18 | House | House/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 61 | 2 | | | 2026-02-09 | House | House Comm - Amendment Recommendation | pass | 11 | 0 | | | 2026-02-09 | House | House Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 9 | 2 | | ## Actions (40) - 2026-03-19: Governor Signed - 2026-03-16: House/ to Governor (House) - 2026-03-16: House/ received enrolled bill from Printing (House) - 2026-03-12: House/ enrolled bill to Printing (House) - 2026-03-12: Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate - 2026-03-11: Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared - 2026-03-11: Bill Received from House for Enrolling - 2026-03-11: House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling (House) - 2026-03-11: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2026-03-10: Senate/ to House (Senate) - 2026-03-10: Senate/ signed by President/ returned to House (Senate) - 2026-03-10: Senate/ received from House (Senate) - 2026-03-06: House/ to Senate (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ concurs with Senate amendment (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ placed on Concurrence Calendar (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ to House with amendments (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ Rules to 2nd Reading Calendar (Senate) - 2026-03-04: Senate/ 2nd Reading Calendar to Rules (Senate) - 2026-02-26: Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar (Senate) - 2026-02-26: Senate/ comm rpt/ amended (Senate) - 2026-02-25: Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation - 2026-02-25: Senate Comm - Amendment Recommendation - 2026-02-20: Senate/ to standing committee (Senate) - 2026-02-19: Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced) (Senate) - 2026-02-18: Senate/ received from House (Senate) - 2026-02-18: House/ to Senate (House) - 2026-02-18: House/ passed 3rd reading (House) - 2026-02-18: House/ 3rd reading (House) - 2026-02-10: House/ 2nd reading (House) - 2026-02-10: House/ comm rpt/ amended (House) - 2026-02-09: House Comm - Favorable Recommendation - 2026-02-09: House Comm - Amendment Recommendation - 2026-02-04: House/ to standing committee (House) - 2026-01-20: House/ 1st reading (Introduced) (House) - 2026-01-20: House/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst (House) - 2026-01-14: House/ received bill from Legislative Research (House) - 2026-01-08: Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed ## Bill text - Enrolled, 2026-03-12: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/HB0194.pdf) - Amended 2/26/2026 09:02:771, 2026-02-26: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/amended/AV_HB0194_2026-02-26_09-45-42.pdf) - Amended 2/10/2026 09:02:831, 2026-02-10: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/amended/AV_HB0194_2026-02-10_09-51-42.pdf) - Introduced, 2026-01-08: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0194.pdf) ## Related bills - H.B. 94: Criminal Accounts Receivable Amendments (signed) - H.B. 101: Firearm Background Check Amendments (signed) - H.B. 178: School Zone Speeding Amendments (signed) - H.B. 134: Offender Transfer Amendments (signed) - H.B. 136: Unlicensed Driver Amendments (signed) - H.B. 220: Public Safety Data Amendments (signed) ## Sources - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/HB0194.pdf) - [Amended 2/26/2026 09:02:771 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/amended/AV_HB0194_2026-02-26_09-45-42.pdf) - [Amended 2/10/2026 09:02:831 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/amended/AV_HB0194_2026-02-10_09-51-42.pdf) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0194.pdf) ## Related - [H.B. 94: Criminal Accounts Receivable Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB94-2026GS) - [H.B. 101: Firearm Background Check Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB101-2026GS) - [H.B. 178: School Zone Speeding Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB178-2026GS) - [H.B. 134: Offender Transfer Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB134-2026GS) - [H.B. 136: Unlicensed Driver Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB136-2026GS) - [H.B. 220: Public Safety Data Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB220-2026GS) - [Utah bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/utah/bills) - [Utah state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/utah) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB194-2026GS (as of 2026-10-19).