{"data":{"id":"us-ut/utah-code-52-4-205","jurisdiction":"us-ut","citation":"Utah Code § 52-4-205","heading":"Purposes of closed meetings -- Certain issues prohibited in closed meetings.","body":"(1) A closed meeting described under Section 52-4-204 may only be held for:\n(a) except as provided in Subsection (3), discussion of the character, professional competence, or physical or mental health of an individual;\n(b) strategy sessions to discuss collective bargaining;\n(c) strategy sessions to discuss pending or reasonably imminent litigation;\n(d) strategy sessions to discuss the purchase, exchange, or lease of real property, including any form of a water right or water shares, or to discuss a proposed development agreement, project proposal, or financing proposal related to the development of land owned by the state or a political subdivision, if public discussion would:\n(i) disclose the appraisal or estimated value of the property under consideration; or\n(ii) prevent the public body from completing the transaction on the best possible terms;\n(e) strategy sessions to discuss the sale of real property, including any form of a water right or water shares, if:\n(i) public discussion of the transaction would:\n(A) disclose the appraisal or estimated value of the property under consideration; or\n(B) prevent the public body from completing the transaction on the best possible terms;\n(ii) the public body previously gave public notice that the property would be offered for sale; and\n(iii) the terms of the sale are publicly disclosed before the public body approves the sale;\n(f) discussion regarding deployment of security personnel, devices, or systems;\n(g) investigative proceedings regarding allegations of criminal misconduct;\n(h) as relates to the Independent Legislative Ethics Commission, conducting business relating to the receipt or review of ethics complaints;\n(i) as relates to an ethics committee of the Legislature, a purpose permitted under Section 52-4-204;\n(j) as relates to the Independent Executive Branch Ethics Commission created in Section 63A-14-202, conducting business relating to an ethics complaint;\n(k) as relates to a county legislative body, discussing commercial information as defined in Section 59-1-404;\n(l) as relates to the Utah Higher Education Savings Board of Trustees and its appointed board of directors, discussing fiduciary or commercial information;\n(m) deliberations, not including any information gathering activities, of a public body acting in the capacity of:\n(i) an evaluation committee under Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Utah Procurement Code, during the process of evaluating responses to a solicitation, as defined in Section 63G-6a-103;\n(ii) a protest officer, defined in Section 63G-6a-103, during the process of making a decision on a protest under Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Part 16, Protests; or\n(iii) a procurement appeals panel under Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Utah Procurement Code, during the process of deciding an appeal under Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Part 17, Procurement Appeals Board;\n(n) the purpose of considering information that is designated as a trade secret, as defined in Section 13-24-2, if the public body's consideration of the information is necessary to properly conduct a procurement under Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Utah Procurement Code;\n(o) the purpose of discussing information provided to the public body during the procurement process under Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Utah Procurement Code, if, at the time of the meeting:\n(i) the information may not, under Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Utah Procurement Code, be disclosed to a member of the public or to a participant in the procurement process; and\n(ii) the public body needs to review or discuss the information to properly fulfill its role and responsibilities in the procurement process;\n(p) as relates to the governing board of a governmental nonprofit corporation, as that term is defined in Section 11-13a-102, the purpose of discussing information that is designated as a trade secret, as that term is defined in Section 13-24-2, if:\n(i) public knowledge of the discussion would reasonably be expected to result in injury to the owner of the trade secret; and\n(ii) discussion of the information is necessary for the governing board to properly discharge the board's duties and conduct the board's business;\n(q) as it relates to the Cannabis Production Establishment Licensing Advisory Board, to review confidential information regarding violations and security requirements in relation to the operation of cannabis production establishments;\n(r) considering a loan application, if public discussion of the loan application would disclose:\n(i) nonpublic personal financial information; or\n(ii) a nonpublic trade secret, as defined in Section 13-24-2, or nonpublic business financial information the disclosure of which would reasonably be expected to result in unfair competitive injury to the person submitting the information;\n(s) a discussion of the board of the Point of the Mountain State Land Authority, created in Section 11-59-201, regarding a potential tenant of point of the mountain state land, as defined in Section 11-59-102;\n(t) as it relates to the General Oversight Committee, discussing matters subject to litigation and whistleblower complaints as described in Subsection 36-35-102.5(3);\n(u) a purpose for which a meeting is required to be closed under Subsection (2); or\n(v) as it relates to the Spaceport Exploration Committee created in Section 72-10-1302, discussion of the committee with industry experts for the purpose of considering information that is designated as a trade secret, as defined in Section 13-24-2.\n(2) The following meetings shall be closed:\n(a) a meeting of the Health and Human Services Interim Committee to review a report described in Subsection 26B-1-506(1)(a), and a response to the report described in Subsection 26B-1-506(2);\n(b) a meeting of the Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel to:\n(i) review a report described in Subsection 26B-1-506(1)(a), and a response to the report described in Subsection 26B-1-506(2); or\n(ii) review and discuss an individual case, as described in Section 36-33-103;\n(c) a meeting of a conservation district as defined in Section 17D-3-102 for the purpose of advising the Natural Resource Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture on a farm improvement project if the discussed information is protected information under federal law;\n(d) a meeting of the Compassionate Use Board established in Section 4-41a-112 for the purpose of reviewing petitions for a medical cannabis card in accordance with Section 26B-1-421;\n(e) a meeting of the Colorado River Authority of Utah if:\n(i) the purpose of the meeting is to discuss an interstate claim to the use of the water in the Colorado River system; and\n(ii) failing to close the meeting would:\n(A) reveal the contents of a record classified as protected under Subsection 63G-2-305(81);\n(B) reveal a legal strategy relating to the state's claim to the use of the water in the Colorado River system;\n(C) harm the ability of the Colorado River Authority of Utah or river commissioner to negotiate the best terms and conditions regarding the use of water in the Colorado River system; or\n(D) give an advantage to another state or to the federal government in negotiations regarding the use of water in the Colorado River system;\n(f) a meeting of the General Regulatory Sandbox Program Advisory Committee if:\n(i) the purpose of the meeting is to discuss an application for participation in the regulatory sandbox as defined in Section 63N-16-102; and\n(ii) failing to close the meeting would reveal the contents of a record classified as protected under Subsection 63G-2-305(82);\n(g) a meeting of a project entity if:\n(i) the purpose of the meeting is to conduct a strategy session to discuss market conditions relevant to a business decision regarding the value of a project entity asset if the terms of the business decision are publicly disclosed before the decision is finalized and a public discussion would:\n(A) disclose the appraisal or estimated value of the project entity asset under consideration; or\n(B) prevent the project entity from completing on the best possible terms a contemplated transaction concerning the project entity asset;\n(ii) the purpose of the meeting is to discuss a record, the disclosure of which could cause commercial injury to, or confer a competitive advantage upon a potential or actual competitor of, the project entity;\n(iii) the purpose of the meeting is to discuss a business decision, the disclosure of which could cause commercial injury to, or confer a competitive advantage upon a potential or actual competitor of, the project entity; or\n(iv) failing to close the meeting would prevent the project entity from getting the best price on the market;\n(h) a meeting of the General Oversight Committee to review and discuss:\n(i) an individual child welfare case as described in Subsection 36-35-102(3)(c); or\n(ii) information that is subject to a confidentiality agreement as described in Subsection 36-35-102(3)(c); and\n(i) a meeting of the Legislative Management Committee to discuss a notice from the Office of the Attorney General provided in accordance with Section 63J-1-1005.\n(3) In a closed meeting, a public body may not:\n(a) interview a person applying to fill an elected position;\n(b) discuss filling a midterm vacancy or temporary absence governed by Title 20A, Chapter 1, Part 5, Candidate Vacancy and Vacancy and Temporary Absence in Elected Office; or\n(c) discuss the character, professional competence, or physical or mental health of the person whose name was submitted for consideration to fill a midterm vacancy or temporary absence governed by Title 20A, Chapter 1, Part 5, Candidate Vacancy and Vacancy and Temporary Absence in Elected Office.","path":["Title 52 Public Officers","Chapter 52-4 Open and Public Meetings Act","Part 52-4-2 Meetings"],"source_url":"https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title52/Chapter4/52-4-S205.html","current_through":"2026 General Session","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-03T11:34:33Z","sha256":"c3c61e367d70ac9351bdce581e565b1c261609ed057dcac35c89c727032245a9","source_id":"us-ut","stale":false,"prev":"us-ut/utah-code-52-4-204","next":"us-ut/utah-code-52-4-206"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}