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Utah Code Title 20A. Election Code § 20A-11-1205. Use of public email for a political purpose

Current as of January 01, 2025 | Updated by Findlaw Staff

(1) Except as provided in Subsection (5), a person may not send an email using the email of a public entity:

(a) for a political purpose;

(b) to advocate for or against a proposed initiative, initiative, proposed referendum, referendum, a proposed bond, a bond, or any ballot proposition; or

(c) to solicit a campaign contribution.

(2)(a) The lieutenant governor shall, after giving the person and the complainant notice and an opportunity to be heard, impose a civil fine against a person who violates Subsection (1) as follows:

(i) up to $250 for a first violation; and

(ii) except as provided in Subsection (3), for each subsequent violation committed after the lieutenant governor imposes a fine against the person for a first violation, $1,000 multiplied by the number of violations committed by the person.

(b) A person may, within 30 days after the day on which the lieutenant governor imposes a fine against the person under this Subsection (2), appeal the fine to a district court.

(3) The lieutenant governor shall consider a violation of this section as a first violation if the violation is committed more than seven years after the day on which the person last committed a violation of this section.

(4) For purposes of this section, one violation means one act of sending an email, regardless of the number of recipients of the email.

(5) A person does not violate this section if:

(a) the lieutenant governor finds that the email described in Subsection (1) was inadvertently sent by the person using the email of a public entity;

(b) the person is directly providing information solely to another person or a group of people in response to a question asked by the other person or group of people;

(c) the information the person emails is an argument or rebuttal argument prepared under Section 20A-7-401.5 or 20A-7-402, and the email includes each opposing argument and rebuttal argument that:

(i) relates to the same proposed initiative, initiative, proposed referendum, or referendum; and

(ii) complies with the requirements of Section 20A-7-401.5 or 20A-7-402; or

(d) the person is engaging in:

(i) an internal communication solely within the public entity;

(ii) a communication solely with another public entity;

(iii) a communication solely with legal counsel;

(iv) a communication solely with the sponsors of an initiative or referendum;

(v) a communication solely with a land developer for a project permitted by a local land use law that is challenged by a proposed referendum or a referendum; or

(vi) a communication solely with a person involved in a business transaction directly relating to a project described in Subsection (5)(d)(v).

(6) A violation of this section does not invalidate an otherwise valid election.

(7) An email sent in violation of Subsection (1), as determined by the records officer, constitutes a record, as defined in Section 63G-2-103, that is subject to the provisions of Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act, notwithstanding any applicability of Subsection 63G-2-103(25)(b)(i).

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Cite this article: FindLaw.com - Utah Code Title 20A. Election Code § 20A-11-1205. Use of public email for a political purpose - last updated January 01, 2025 | https://codes.findlaw.com/ut/title-20a-election-code/ut-code-sect-20a-11-1205/

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