Utah Amendment C, Elections of County Sheriffs Amendment (2024)

Utah Elections of County Sheriffs Amendment
Election date November 5, 2024
Topic County and municipal governance and Law enforcement
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

Utah Amendment C, the Elections of County Sheriffs Amendment, was on the ballot in Utah as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 5, 2024. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported establishing in the state constitution that every county shall elect a sheriff to serve for four-year terms.

A "no" vote opposed establishing in the state constitution that every county shall elect a sheriff to serve for four-year terms.

Election results

Utah Amendment C
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		1,165,753	82.68%
No		244,196	17.32%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What did the amendment do?

See also: Text of measure

The amendment established in the state constitution that every county shall elect a sheriff to serve for four-year terms. Going into the election, Utah state law mandated the election of county sheriffs, which means that this constitutional amendment would not alter the current procedures for selecting sheriffs. Utah has 29 counties and 29 elected county sheriffs.

What has the bill's sponsor said about this amendment?

See also: Support and Path to the ballot

Republican State Representative Brad R. Wilson, who sponsored the amendment in the state House said, "I personally believe it's nice to vote for our county sheriffs and know as a voter I have a say in who the chief law enforcement officer is in my county. [The amendment] is very simple. It creates an opportunity for the voters of the state of Utah to determine through amending our state constitution whether or not that's something they want to protect in perpetuity."

The amendment was approved unanimously in the Utah State Senate and Utah House of Representatives.

Have other states voted on similar measures?

See also: Background

In 2022, Kansas voters approved an amendment requiring the election of county sheriffs in counties that had not abolished the office as of January 2022. Voters approved the amendment in a vote of 62% to 38%.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for the amendment was as follows:

“

Shall the Utah Constitution be amended to have the office of county sheriff be elected by voters? FOR ( ) AGAINST ( )

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article XI, Utah Constitution

The ballot measure added a Section 10 to Article XI of the Utah Constitution. The following struck-through text was deleted and underlined text was added.

Section 10. Election of County Sheriffs.

(1) Each county shall have an office of county sheriff.

(2) The office of county sheriff is an elected office.

(3) Their term of office shall be four years from the first day of January next after their election.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2024

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The lieutenant governor wrote the ballot language for this measure.

The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 8, and the FRE is 55. The word count for the ballot title is 19.

Support

Supporters

Officials

• State Sen. Stuart Adams (R)
• State Rep. Brad R. Wilson (R)

Arguments

• State Rep. Brad Wilson (R-15): "I personally believe it's nice to vote for our county sheriffs and know as a voter I have a say in who the chief law enforcement officer is in my county. [The amendment] is very simple. It creates an opportunity for the voters of the state of Utah to determine through amending our state constitution whether or not that's something they want to protect in perpetuity."

Opposition

Ballotpedia did not locate a campaign in opposition to the ballot measure.

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Utah ballot measures

If you are aware of a committee registered to support or oppose this measure, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Oppose	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Background

Utah county sheriffs

Utah state law currently mandates the election of county sheriffs, which means that this constitutional amendment would not alter the current procedures for selecting sheriffs. Utah has 29 counties and 29 elected county sheriffs. On its website, the Utah County Sheriff's Office said its mission was to "[provide] law enforcement services to the unincorporated areas of Utah County and contract cities, as well as co-operative support services to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and organizations."

Elected and appointed sheriffs

Sheriffs are generally the highest law-enforcement officer in a county. Alaska and Connecticut do not have sheriffs. Sheriffs are elected to four-year terms in 43 states, two-year terms in New Hampshire, three-year terms in New Jersey, and six-year terms in Massachusetts. In Hawaii and Rhode Island, sheriffs are appointed instead of elected.

Related ballot measures

Ballotpedia tracked the following ballot measures related to county sheriff elections and appointments:

Statewide measures:

• In 2022, Kansas voters approved a constitutional amendment, Amendment 2, requiring the election of county sheriffs in counties that had not abolished the office as of January 2022. Voters approved the amendment in a vote of 62% to 38%.

• In November 2000, Connecticut approved Question 1 by a margin of 65.6% to 34.4%. The measure removed county sheriffs as constitutional officers.

Local measures:

• In November 2020, King County, Washington approved Charter Amendment 5 by a margin of 55.6% to 44.4%. The amendment returned the office of the sheriff from an elected position to an appointed position that is appointed by the county executive and confirmed by the county council.

Referred amendments on the ballot

From 2000 to 2022, the Utah State Legislature referred 40 constitutional amendments to the ballot. Voters approved 35 (87.50%) and rejected five (12.50%) of the referred amendments. All of the amendments were referred to the ballot for general elections during even-numbered election years. The average number of amendments appearing on the general election ballot was between three and four.

Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 2000-2022
Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Annual average	Annual minimum	Annual maximum
40	35	87.50%	5	12.50%	4	1	7

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Utah Constitution

In Utah, both chambers of the state legislature need to pass a constitutional amendment by a two-thirds vote during one legislative session to refer an amendment to the ballot.

On February 7, 2023, the state House approved the amendment in a vote of 72-0 with three members absent or not voting. On February 17, 2023, the Utah State Senate approved the amendment in a vote of 26-0 with three members absent or not voting.

Vote in the Utah House of Representatives February 7, 2023
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 50  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	72	0	3
Total percent	96.00%	0.00%	4.00%
Democrat	13	0	1
Republican	59	0	2

Vote in the Utah State Senate February 17, 2023
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 20  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	26	0	3
Total percent	89.66%	0.00%	10.35%
Democrat	6	0	0
Republican	20	0	3

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Utah

See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in Utah.

How to vote in Utah

Poll times

Utah is an all-mail voting state that offers vote centers for voters that choose to vote in person. All vote centers are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time. Utah voters are able to vote in person at any vote center. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.

Registration

Check your voter registration status here.

To register to vote in Utah, an applicant must be a citizen of the United States, a resident of Utah for at least 30 days prior to the election, and at least 18 years old by the next general election. Pre-registration is available for 16- and 17-year-olds. 17-year-olds may vote in primary elections if they will turn 18 by the general election. Registration can be completed online or by mailing in a form. The deadline to register online or by mail is 11 days before Election Day. After this deadline, voters may register in person at a vote center by casting a provisional ballot and providing two forms of identification.

Automatic registration

See also: Automatic voter registration

Utah does not practice automatic voter registration.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

Utah has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.

Same-day registration

See also: Same-day voter registration

Utah allows same-day voter registration at polling places during the 10 days preceding and on Election Day.

Residency requirements

Prospective voters must be residents of the state for at least 30 days before the election.

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

Utah does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual must attest that they are a U.S. citizen when registering to vote. According to the state's voter registration application, a person who commits fraudulent registration is "guilty of a class A misdemeanor" under Utah Code 20A-2-401.

All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.

Verifying your registration

The Utah lieutenant governor’s office allows residents to check their voter registration status online by visiting this website.

Voter ID requirements

Utah requires in-person voters to present non-photo identification while voting.

The following list of accepted ID was current as of May 2025:

“

"Valid voter identification" means: a form of identification that bears the name and photograph of the voter which may include: a currently valid Utah driver license; a currently valid identification card issued under Title 53, Chapter 3, Part 8, Identification Card Act; a currently valid identification card that is issued by: the state; or a branch, department, or agency of the United States; a currently valid Utah permit to carry a concealed weapon; a currently valid United States passport; or a currently valid United States military identification card; one of the following identification cards, regardless of whether the card includes a photograph of the voter: a valid tribal identification card; a Bureau of Indian Affairs card; or a tribal treaty card; or two forms of identification not listed under Subsection (79)(a) or (b) but that bear the name of the voter and provide evidence that the voter resides in the voting precinct, which may include: before January 1, 2029, an original or copy of a current utility bill, dated no more than 90 calendar days before the date of the election; before January 1, 2029, an original or copy of a bank or other financial account statement, dated no more than 90 calendar days before the date of the election; a certified birth certificate; a valid social security card; an original or copy of a check issued by the state or the federal government, dated no more than 90 calendar days before the date of the election; an original or copy of a paycheck from the voter's employer, dated no more than 90 calendar days before the date of the election; a currently valid Utah hunting or fishing license; certified naturalization documentation; a currently valid license issued by an authorized agency of the United States; a certified copy of court records showing the voter's adoption or name change; a valid Medicaid card, Medicare card, or Electronic Benefits Transfer Card; a currently valid identification card issued by: a local government within the state; an employer for an employee; or a college, university, technical school, or professional school located within the state; or a current Utah vehicle registration.

”

Click here for the Utah statute defining accepted ID to ensure you have the most current information.

See also

2024 measures

• 2024 ballot measures
• County and municipal governance on the ballot

Utah

• Utah ballot measures
• Utah ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Utah House Joint Resolution 10 (2023)