Enrolled Copy H.R. 5
1
House Rules Resolution - House Procedures Amendments
2025 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: James A. Dunnigan
2
3
LONG TITLE
4
General Description:
5
This resolution addresses House procedures.
6
Highlighted Provisions:
7
This resolution:
8
▸ modifies the duties and appointment of the sergeant-at-arms and the chief clerk; and
9
▸ clarifies that a motion to saunter is in order during floor debate.
10
Other Special Clauses:
11
None
12
Legislative Rules Affected:
13
AMENDS:
14
HR1-4-201
15
HR1-4-202
16
HR1-4-301
17
HR1-4-302
18
HR4-6-109
19
20
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the state of Utah:
21
Section 1. HR1-4-201 is amended to read:
22
HR1-4-201 . Appointment of sergeant-at-arms.
23
The [chief of staff or the chief of staff's designee] speaker or the speaker's designee shall
24
appoint a person to serve as sergeant-at-arms of the [Utah] House of Representatives.
25
Section 2. HR1-4-202 is amended to read:
26
HR1-4-202 . Duties of the sergeant-at-arms.
27
Subject to the [chief of staff's or the chief of staff's designee's direction] speaker's or the
28
speaker's designee's direction, the sergeant-at-arms and the employees under the sergeant's
29
direction shall: H.R. 5 Enrolled Copy
30
(1) maintain security in areas controlled by the House;
31
(2) enforce the House Rules;
32
(3) enforce the provisions of Utah Code [Title 26, Chapter 38, Utah Indoor Clean Air Act,]
33
Section 26B-7-503 in areas controlled by the House;
34
(4) when the House is convened in annual general session or special session, receive and, in
35
coordination with House staff, transmit written messages to representatives on the House
36
floor from or on behalf of individuals who are present at the capitol; and
37
(5) provide other service as requested by [the chief of staff or ]the speaker.
38
Section 3. HR1-4-301 is amended to read:
39
HR1-4-301 . Appointment of the chief clerk.
40
(1) The speaker or speaker-elect of the House shall appoint an individual to serve as chief
41
clerk of the House.
42
(2) The chief clerk reports to the [chief of staff] speaker or, at the speaker's discretion, the
43
chief of staff.
44
Section 4. HR1-4-302 is amended to read:
45
HR1-4-302 . Duties of the chief clerk.
46
The chief clerk shall perform the following duties:
47
(1) certify and transmit legislation to the Senate and inform the Senate of all House action;
48
(2) assist in the preparation of the House Journal and certify it as an accurate reflection of
49
House action;
50
(3) make the following technical corrections to legislation either before or following final
51
passage:
52
(a) correct the spelling of words;
53
(b) correct the erroneous division and hyphenation of words;
54
(c) correct mistakes in numbering sections and their references;
55
(d) capitalize words or change capitalized words to lower case;
56
(e) change numbers from words to figures or from figures to words; or
57
(f) underscore or remove underscoring in legislation without a motion to amend;
58
(4) modify the long title of a piece of legislation to ensure that the long title accurately
59
reflects any changes to the legislation made by amendment or substitute;
60
(5) act as custodian of all official documents related to legislation;
61
(6) receive all numbered legislation from the Office of Legislative Research and General
62
Counsel;
63
(7) record the number, title, sponsor, each action, and final disposition of each piece of
- 2 - Enrolled Copy H.R. 5
64
legislation on the back of the legislation;
65
(8) prepare and distribute the daily order of business each day;
66
(9) advise the speaker on parliamentary procedure, Joint Rules, and House Rules;
67
(10) assist with amendments to legislation;
68
(11) record votes and, if requested, present the results to the speaker;
69
(12) record the votes of any member who is present in the House chamber who requests
70
assistance of the chief clerk;
71
(13) transmit all enrolled House bills and House concurrent resolutions to the governor;
72
(14) approve material for placement on the representatives' desks if a representative has
73
authorized that distribution;
74
(15) maintain all calendars for the House floor;
75
(16) supervise each House in-session employee and assign the employee's duties and
76
responsibilities;
77
(17) keep a record of the attendance of each House in-session employee and ensure that
78
each House in-session employee is paid only for hours worked; and
79
[(16)] (18) other duties as assigned by the [chief of staff] speaker.
80
Section 5. HR4-6-109 is amended to read:
81
HR4-6-109 . Motions in order during debate.
82
(1)(a) When a motion or question is being debated, the presiding officer may not accept
83
any other motion except a motion:
84
(i) to adjourn, which is nondebatable;
85
(ii) to determine the time [to] at which to adjourn, which is debatable;
86
(iii) to recess or saunter, which is nondebatable;
87
(iv) to end debate (call the previous question), which is nondebatable and requires a
88
two-thirds vote to pass;
89
(v) to refer to a committee, which is debatable;
90
(vi) to limit debate, which is debatable;
91
(vii) to postpone to a time certain, which is debatable;
92
(viii) to circle, which is debatable;
93
(ix) to strike the enacting clause, which is debatable;
94
(x) to substitute, which is debatable; or
95
(xi) to amend, which is debatable.
96
(b) Points of order and appeals of the decision of the presiding officer are not motions
97
and are always in order.
- 3 - H.R. 5 Enrolled Copy
98
(c) The presiding officer shall grant priority to the motions listed in Subsection (1)(a)
99
according to the order in which they are listed in that rule.
100
(2)(a) If an amendment or substitute to a piece of legislation has been proposed and is
101
under consideration by the House, the presiding officer shall treat a motion to end
102
debate (call the previous question) as directed only toward the amendment or
103
substitute.
104
(b) If no motion to amend or substitute a piece of legislation has been made, the chair
105
shall treat a motion to end debate (call the previous question) as directed toward
106
action on the legislation itself.
107
(3) If a motion to postpone a piece of legislation to a day certain or a motion to return a
108
piece of legislation to the House Rules committee is defeated, a representative may not
109
make the same motion on the same piece of legislation during the same reading of the
110
legislation.
111
(4) When a motion to refer to committee, to postpone to a time certain, or to circle is made,
112
the presiding officer may not allow consideration of amendments or debate on the main
113
question.
114
(5) During a roll call, no motion or other business is in order except for a call of the House,
115
until after the announcement of the result of the vote.
116
Section 6. Effective Date.
117
This resolution takes effect upon a successful vote for final passage.
- 4 -