Utah Legislature will redraw congressional map, calls timeline ‘unreasonable’

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Utah State Legislature has confirmed that it will be redrawing the congressional map following a judge’s court ruling on Monday.

In a press release from the Utah Legislature, Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams and Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz released a statement about their plans to redraw the congressional map. They state that they will move forward with redrawing the congressional map “despite a misguided court ruling and an arbitrary 30-day deadline.”

Schultz and Adams express that they will try to ensure that each member of Congress can represent both urban and rural voices. They also state that the last time congressional boundaries were drawn, they had six months to travel Utah and hold more than 20 public meetings.

In the statement, Schultz and Adams argue that they now have less than 30 days to complete that process, saying that it leaves “little opportunity for meaningful, statewide public involvement.”

The two expressed that while they will be redrawing the congressional map, the Utah Legislature is going to “pursue every legal option available” and will request a stay from the Utah Supreme Court if necessary.

“We will attempt to redistrict under these unprecedented constraints, consistent with our oath to represent the best interests of Utah,” Schultz and Adams stated in the release.

The statement can be read in full below.

Despite a misguided court ruling and an arbitrary 30-day deadline, the Utah Legislature will defend its constitutional authority and move forward with redrawing the state’s congressional map. The court’s order unconstitutionally ties the Legislature’s hands by mandating certain redistricting criteria when the U.S. and Utah constitutions leave it to the people’s representatives in the legislature to redistrict. 

We can and will continue to pursue the same goal we have had from the outset—for each member of Congress to represent both urban and rural voices. This model provides a true statewide perspective, ensuring that all Utahns—whether they live in rural towns, suburban neighborhoods or our capital city—have four strong voices in Washington, D.C.

When we last drew congressional boundaries, the Legislature spent nearly six months traveling the state and holding more than 20 public meetings to gather input. Now, the court has allowed only 30 days to complete the same complex process, leaving little opportunity for meaningful, statewide public involvement. Even more concerning, after hearing summary judgments in January, the judge waited months to issue a ruling—only to then impose this rushed deadline on the public and the Legislature. Such a timeline is not only unreasonable, it is fundamentally unfair to Utahns.

While we will continue to pursue every legal option available—including requesting a stay from the Utah Supreme Court if necessary—we will attempt to redistrict under these unprecedented constraints, consistent with our oath to represent the best interests of Utah.”

President J. Stuart Adams and Speaker Mike Schultz statement

Background on the lawsuit

This issue began in 2018, when Utah voters passed Proposition 4, a citizen ballot initiative run by Better Boundaries. The initiative created a redistricting commission to draw new boundary lines for Utah’s congressional districts and prohibited partisan gerrymandering.

In 2020, the Utah Legislature gutted the commission created by the initiative in S.B. 200, and it replaced maps with its own in H.B. 2004.

Plaintiffs filed the lawsuit arguing that the current district maps break up Salt Lake City into four districts that dilute minority votes in the traditionally red state. They also argued that Utahns have a constitutionally protected right to “alter and reform” their government, which was what Proposition 4 did before it was changed by the Legislature.

The Utah Supreme Court upheld the people’s right to alter and reform government in a major ruling from July of last year, which meant that the lawsuit was able to move forward in Utah’s lower court. Utah’s top lawmakers discredited the ruling, calling it the “worst decision they’ve ever seen.” Earlier this year, both parties argued the merits of the case before Judge Gibson.

Monday’s decision provides a timeline to govern redistricting proceedings to ensure that there is a new map by November 1, as Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson has asked the court for the case to be finalized by November so that if new lines need to be drawn, they can be drawn before the 2026 midterm elections.

After the ruling, the Legislature’s request that the court dismiss other pending items in the case from September 2024 was denied, alongside a request that the redistricting timeline not be imposed until the Utah Supreme Court makes a ruling.

The Legislature has 30 days, until September 25, to design a remedial congressional map that complies with Proposition 4.

The court scheduled a status conference for Friday, August 29 at 10 a.m., where the plaintiffs and the defendants will need to discuss the proposed schedule and request any modifications.