Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Amendment B seeks increased state trust lands revenue for public education; Amendment C proposes constitutional protection for elected sheriffs.
- The Utah Sheriffs' Association supports C, while polls show strong support for B.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's courts have voided Amendments A and D from the ballot because they violated the state Constitution, leaving only Amendments B and C to be voted on.
Amendment B asks voters to decide whether they want more of Utah's state trust lands revenue used for public education. Amendment C asks whether the position of elected county sheriff should be enshrined in the state Constitution.
According to recent polling, Utahns are split on Amendment C, but there is high support for Amendment B.
Sheriffs' Association supports Amendment C
"We want the office of sheriff in the state of Utah to remain elected forever," said the president of the Utah Sheriffs' Association, Tracy Glover. He also said every sheriff in the state supports this change.
"Over the years, we've seen a few states that have attempted to make sheriffs appointed, more like police chiefs," Glover said.
Currently, county sheriffs are elected, but the requirement is in state law. Glover, who's also the Kane County Sheriff, said they want the position constitutionally protected.
"When different things come up in our state that we feel need a law enforcement voice, we can voice our opinion freely and on behalf of the people that we represent," he said.
However, some online have been leery of the fact that the change could embolden the constitutional sheriff's movement. The Anti-Defamation League labels constitutional sheriffs as "anti-government far-right extremists" who believe that a sheriff's authority supersedes state or federal laws.
"I don't think there's any tie there," said Glover. "I don't think there's any concern to be had there."
He said that he and Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith have been at the forefront of working with the Legislature to put this decision to voters, and neither of them has talked to anyone from those groups.
"I can't speak for every sheriff," he said, "but I have not heard of any sheriff that's been directly affiliated with any of the groups that you're speaking of."
Glover said the change wouldn't give sheriffs any new power they don't already have.
"We kept the language very simple to try to just simply protect the office of sheriff as elected in the Constitution," he said.
Amendment B and state trust lands
Meanwhile, Amendment B deals with state trust lands, which are managed by the Utah Trust Lands Administration.
"Money that is generated off of the land that's in trust goes into an investment portfolio, and that investment portfolio invests over time and has returns over time," said State Treasurer Marlo Oaks, who oversees the portfolio.
The amendment will ask whether you want to increase the amount of money that can be paid out from the trust from 4% to 5%. Utah's public schools are the largest beneficiary.
"Because of strong financial results from both the trust lands and the investment performance, we have a fiduciary obligation to pay out more of the trust today so that we're not disadvantaging today's children versus future generations," Oaks said.
Oaks said that if the cap had been in place this past year, Utah could have generated an extra $14 million for schools.
So, what's the downside?
"If people view holding on to more money as more important — paying it out today, then maybe they view it as a downside. But from our analysis, we need to pay out more today," Oaks said.
A recent Noble Insights poll looked at both amendments. According to the poll, just a little more than half of Utahns (51%) are in favor of enshrining the sheriffs. Meanwhile, almost two-thirds of Utahns (62%) say more money should come out of state trust lands.
"Voters are fine with spending more on education, especially when it comes from an endowment rather than an explicit new tax," said David Byler, Noble Insights chief of research.
