Enrolled Copy H.B. 11
1 STUDENT ELIGIBILITY IN INTERSCHOLASTIC ACTIVITIES
2 2022 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Chief Sponsor: Kera Birkeland
5 Senate Sponsor: Curtis S. Bramble
6 Cosponsors: Karianne Lisonbee Christine F. Watkins
7 Cheryl K. Acton Candice B. Pierucci
8 Melissa G. Ballard Susan Pulsipher
9 Marsha Judkins Judy Weeks Rohner
10
11 LONG TITLE
12 General Description:
13 This bill addresses student athlete participation in gender-designated sports in the
14 public education system.
15 Highlighted Provisions:
16 This bill:
17 < defines terms;
18 < imposes limits on participation in female sports, by:
19 C requiring schools and local education agencies to designate athletic activities by
20 sex;
21 C prohibiting a student of the male sex from competing against another school on
22 a team designated for female students;
23 C prohibiting certain complaints or investigations based on a school or local
24 education agency maintaining separate athletic activities for female students;
25 and
26 C providing for severability;
27 < in the alternative if a court invalidates the above policy:
28 C conditions student athlete participation in gender-designated sports in the public
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29 education system on the student's birth certificate;
30 C establishes the School Activity Eligibility Commission (commission) and
31 provides the commission's membership and duties;
32 C requires the commission to establish a baseline range of students in a given
33 gender-designated interscholastic activity for a given age;
34 C provides that records of the commission related to a specific student are
35 protected;
36 C provides immunity from suit for members of the commission;
37 C allows a student to participate in a gender-designated interscholastic activity that
38 does not correspond to the sex designation on the student's birth certificate or in
39 the case of a gender transition if the student receives the commission's eligibility
40 approval;
41 C provides processes for an athletic association to notify the commission when a
42 student registers to participate in a gender-designated sport in a situation that
43 requires the commission's eligibility approval;
44 C provides processes for the commission to receive information and evidence;
45 C provides for the confidentiality of the proceedings, commission vote, eligibility
46 determination, and student's identity; and
47 C establishes a standard for the commission's considerations in rendering an
48 eligibility determination;
49 C allows for commission meetings in which the commission discusses and votes
50 on a specific student's request to be closed under the Open and Public Meetings
51 Act;
52 C provides for reasonable accommodations in school facilities related to gender
53 identity for students participating in interscholastic activities; and
54 C provides for severability; and
55 < makes technical changes.
56 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
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57 None
58 Other Special Clauses:
59 This bill provides a special effective date.
60 Utah Code Sections Affected:
61 AMENDS:
62 52-4-205, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2021, Chapters 179 and 231
63 ENACTS:
64 53G-6-901, Utah Code Annotated 1953
65 53G-6-902, Utah Code Annotated 1953
66 53G-6-903, Utah Code Annotated 1953
67 53G-6-1001, Utah Code Annotated 1953
68 53G-6-1002, Utah Code Annotated 1953
69 53G-6-1003, Utah Code Annotated 1953
70 53G-6-1004, Utah Code Annotated 1953
71 53G-6-1005, Utah Code Annotated 1953
72 53G-6-1006, Utah Code Annotated 1953
73
74 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
75 Section 1. Section 52-4-205 is amended to read:
76 52-4-205. Purposes of closed meetings -- Certain issues prohibited in closed
77 meetings.
78 (1) A closed meeting described under Section 52-4-204 may only be held for:
79 (a) except as provided in Subsection (3), discussion of the character, professional
80 competence, or physical or mental health of an individual;
81 (b) strategy sessions to discuss collective bargaining;
82 (c) strategy sessions to discuss pending or reasonably imminent litigation;
83 (d) strategy sessions to discuss the purchase, exchange, or lease of real property,
84 including any form of a water right or water shares, if public discussion of the transaction
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85 would:
86 (i) disclose the appraisal or estimated value of the property under consideration; or
87 (ii) prevent the public body from completing the transaction on the best possible terms;
88 (e) strategy sessions to discuss the sale of real property, including any form of a water
89 right or water shares, if:
90 (i) public discussion of the transaction would:
91 (A) disclose the appraisal or estimated value of the property under consideration; or
92 (B) prevent the public body from completing the transaction on the best possible terms;
93 (ii) the public body previously gave public notice that the property would be offered for
94 sale; and
95 (iii) the terms of the sale are publicly disclosed before the public body approves the
96 sale;
97 (f) discussion regarding deployment of security personnel, devices, or systems;
98 (g) investigative proceedings regarding allegations of criminal misconduct;
99 (h) as relates to the Independent Legislative Ethics Commission, conducting business
100 relating to the receipt or review of ethics complaints;
101 (i) as relates to an ethics committee of the Legislature, a purpose permitted under
102 Subsection 52-4-204(1)(a)(iii)(C);
103 (j) as relates to the Independent Executive Branch Ethics Commission created in
104 Section 63A-14-202, conducting business relating to an ethics complaint;
105 (k) as relates to a county legislative body, discussing commercial information as
106 defined in Section 59-1-404;
107 (l) as relates to the Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority and its appointed
108 board of directors, discussing fiduciary or commercial information as defined in Section
109 53B-12-102;
110 (m) deliberations, not including any information gathering activities, of a public body
111 acting in the capacity of:
112 (i) an evaluation committee under Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Utah Procurement Code,
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113 during the process of evaluating responses to a solicitation, as defined in Section 63G-6a-103;
114 (ii) a protest officer, defined in Section 63G-6a-103, during the process of making a
115 decision on a protest under Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Part 16, Protests; or
116 (iii) a procurement appeals panel under Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Utah Procurement
117 Code, during the process of deciding an appeal under Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Part 17,
118 Procurement Appeals Board;
119 (n) the purpose of considering information that is designated as a trade secret, as
120 defined in Section 13-24-2, if the public body's consideration of the information is necessary in
121 order to properly conduct a procurement under Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Utah Procurement Code;
122 (o) the purpose of discussing information provided to the public body during the
123 procurement process under Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Utah Procurement Code, if, at the time of
124 the meeting:
125 (i) the information may not, under Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Utah Procurement Code, be
126 disclosed to a member of the public or to a participant in the procurement process; and
127 (ii) the public body needs to review or discuss the information in order to properly
128 fulfill its role and responsibilities in the procurement process;
129 (p) as relates to the governing board of a governmental nonprofit corporation, as that
130 term is defined in Section 11-13a-102, the purpose of discussing information that is designated
131 as a trade secret, as that term is defined in Section 13-24-2, if:
132 (i) public knowledge of the discussion would reasonably be expected to result in injury
133 to the owner of the trade secret; and
134 (ii) discussion of the information is necessary for the governing board to properly
135 discharge the board's duties and conduct the board's business; or
136 (q) a purpose for which a meeting is required to be closed under Subsection (2).
137 (2) The following meetings shall be closed:
138 (a) a meeting of the Health and Human Services Interim Committee to review a report
139 described in Subsection 62A-16-301(1)(a), and the responses to the report described in
140 Subsections 62A-16-301(2) and (4);
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141 (b) a meeting of the Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel to:
142 (i) review a report described in Subsection 62A-16-301(1)(a), and the responses to the
143 report described in Subsections 62A-16-301(2) and (4); or
144 (ii) review and discuss an individual case, as described in Subsection 62A-4a-207(5);
145 (c) a meeting of the Opioid and Overdose Fatality Review Committee, created in
146 Section 26-7-13, to review and discuss an individual case, as described in Subsection
147 26-7-13(10);
148 (d) a meeting of a conservation district as defined in Section 17D-3-102 for the
149 purpose of advising the Natural Resource Conservation Service of the United States
150 Department of Agriculture on a farm improvement project if the discussed information is
151 protected information under federal law;
152 (e) a meeting of the Compassionate Use Board established in Section 26-61a-105 for
153 the purpose of reviewing petitions for a medical cannabis card in accordance with Section
154 26-61a-105; [and]
155 (f) a meeting of the Colorado River Authority of Utah if:
156 (i) the purpose of the meeting is to discuss an interstate claim to the use of the water in
157 the Colorado River system; and
158 (ii) failing to close the meeting would:
159 (A) reveal the contents of a record classified as protected under Subsection
160 63G-2-305(82);
161 (B) reveal a legal strategy relating to the state's claim to the use of the water in the
162 Colorado River system;
163 (C) harm the ability of the Colorado River Authority of Utah or river commissioner to
164 negotiate the best terms and conditions regarding the use of water in the Colorado River
165 system; or
166 (D) give an advantage to another state or to the federal government in negotiations
167 regarding the use of water in the Colorado River system[.]; and
168 (g) a meeting of the School Activity Eligibility Commission, described in Section
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169 53G-6-1003, if the commission is in effect in accordance with Section 53G-6-1002, to
170 consider, discuss, or determine, in accordance with Section 53G-6-1004, an individual student's
171 eligibility to participate in an interscholastic activity, as that term is defined in Section
172 53G-6-1001, including the commission's determinative vote on the student's eligibility.
173 (3) In a closed meeting, a public body may not:
174 (a) interview a person applying to fill an elected position;
175 (b) discuss filling a midterm vacancy or temporary absence governed by Title 20A,
176 Chapter 1, Part 5, Candidate Vacancy and Vacancy and Temporary Absence in Elected Office;
177 or
178 (c) discuss the character, professional competence, or physical or mental health of the
179 person whose name was submitted for consideration to fill a midterm vacancy or temporary
180 absence governed by Title 20A, Chapter 1, Part 5, Candidate Vacancy and Vacancy and
181 Temporary Absence in Elected Office.
182 Section 2. Section 53G-6-901 is enacted to read:
183 Part 9. Participation in Female Sports
184 53G-6-901. Definitions.
185 As used in this part:
186 (1) "Coed" or "mixed" means that a team is composed of members of both sexes who
187 traditionally compete together.
188 (2) "Interscholastic athletic activity" means that a student represents the student's
189 school or LEA in competition against another school or LEA in an athletic or sporting activity.
190 (3) "Sex" means the biological, physical condition of being male or female, determined
191 by an individual's genetics and anatomy at birth.
192 Section 3. Section 53G-6-902 is enacted to read:
193 53G-6-902. Participation in school athletic activities.
194 (1) Notwithstanding any state board rule:
195 (a) a public school or LEA, or a private school that competes against a public school or
196 LEA, shall expressly designate school athletic activities and teams as one of the following,
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197 based on sex:
198 (i) designated for students of the male sex;
199 (ii) designated for students of the female sex; or
200 (iii) "coed" or "mixed";
201 (b) a student of the male sex may not compete, and a public school or LEA may not
202 allow a student of the male sex to compete, with a team designated for students of the female
203 sex in an interscholastic athletic activity; and
204 (c) a government entity or licensing or accrediting organization may not entertain a
205 complaint, open an investigation, or take any other adverse action against a school or LEA
206 described in Subsection (1)(a) for maintaining separate school athletic activities for students of
207 the female sex.
208 (2) Nothing in this section prohibits an LEA or school from allowing a student of either
209 gender from participating with a team designated for students of the female sex, consistent with
210 school policy, outside of competition in an interscholastic athletic activity, in accordance with
211 Subsection (1)(b).
212 Section 4. Section 53G-6-903 is enacted to read:
213 53G-6-903. Severability.
214 (1) If any provision of this part or the application of any provision of this part to any
215 person or circumstance is held invalid by a final decision of a court of competent jurisdiction,
216 the remainder of this part shall be given effect without the invalidated provision or application.
217 (2) The provisions of this part are severable.
218 Section 5. Section 53G-6-1001 is enacted to read:
219 Part 10. Student Eligibility in Interscholastic Activities
220 53G-6-1001. Definitions.
221 As used in this part:
222 (1) "Athletic association" means an association, as that term is defined in Section
223 53G-7-1101.
224 (2) "Commission" means the School Activity Eligibility Commission created in
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225 Section 53G-6-1003.
226 (3) "Female-designated" means that an interscholastic activity is designated specifically
227 for female students.
228 (4) "Gender-designated" means that an interscholastic activity or facility is designated
229 specifically for female or male students.
230 (5) "Gender identity" means the same as that term is defined in Section 34A-5-102.
231 (6) "Interscholastic activity" means an activity in which a student represents the
232 student's school in the activity in competition against another school.
233 (7) "Male-designated" means that an interscholastic activity is designated specifically
234 for male students.
235 (8) "Student" means a student who is enrolled in a public school that participates in
236 interscholastic activities.
237 Section 6. Section 53G-6-1002 is enacted to read:
238 53G-6-1002. Effect contingent on court ruling.
239 This part becomes effective if a court of competent jurisdiction invalidates or enjoins
240 Title 53G, Chapter 6, Part 9, Participation in Female Sports.
241 Section 7. Section 53G-6-1003 is enacted to read:
242 53G-6-1003. School Activity Eligibility Commission -- Baseline range.
243 (1) There is created the School Activity Eligibility Commission.
244 (2) (a) The commission shall consist