17-52a-405. Plan may propose changing forms of county government — Partisan elections.
(1)
Terms Used In Utah Code 17-52a-405
Executive: when used to describe the powers, duties, or functions of a person or body elected as the county executive or a person appointed as the county manager or administrative officer, refers to:
(a)
the power and duty to carry laws and ordinances into effect and secure their due observance; and
(b)
those powers, duties, and functions that, under constitutional and statutory provisions and through long usage and accepted practice and custom at the federal and state level, have come to be regarded as belonging to the executive branch of government. See Utah Code 17-50-101
Optional plan: means a plan establishing an alternate form of government for a county as provided in Section 17-52a-404. See Utah Code 17-52a-102
Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of a judicial proceeding. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
(a)
The optional plan proponent described in Subsection 17-52a-404(1) shall ensure that each optional plan proposes changing the form of county government to:
(i)
for a county of the first, second, third, or fourth class:
(A)
the county commission form under Section 17-52a-201;
(B)
the expanded county commission form under Section 17-52a-202;
(C)
the county executive and council form under Section 17-52a-203; or
(D)
the council-manager form under Section 17-52a-204; and
(ii)
for a county of the fifth or sixth class:
(A)
the county commission form under Section 17-52a-201; or
(B)
the expanded county commission form under Section 17-52a-202.
(b)
The optional plan proponent described in Subsection 17-52a-404(1) may not recommend an optional plan that:
(i)
proposes changing the form of government to a form not authorized in Subsection (1)(a);
(ii)
provides for the nonpartisan election of elected officers;
(iii)
imposes a limit on the number of terms or years that an elected officer may serve;
(iv)
provides for elected officers to be subject to a recall election; or
(v)
provides, in a county with a population of 225,000 or more, for a full-time county commission in an expanded county commission form of government under Section 17-52a-202.
(2)
A county that provides for the election of the county’s elected officers through a partisan election may not change to a process that provides for the election of the county’s elected officers through a nonpartisan election.
