Utah state government

Seventh Grade Utah Studies

How it works

The Utah State Government works in conjunction with city and county governments, and all of them are subject to the laws, rights, and regulations of the federal government in Washington D.C.

The Utah State Government is similar to the federal government because it is also divided into three branches: Executive Branch Legislative Branch Judicial Branch

The Executive Branch

The Executive Branch of Utah is made up of the following people: Governor (Gary Herbert) Lieutenant Governor (Greg Bell) Attorney General (Mark Shurtleff) Treasurer (Richard Ellis) Auditor (Auston Johnson)

The Executive Branch

The governor, in addition to serving as the state’s ambassador with other states or nations, is also the state’s commander-in-chief, with the power to call on the national guard in times of emergency.

It is the job of the executive branch to administer the laws of the state, while overseeing 30 state agencies, including the departments of:

Agriculture and Food Commerce Health Transportation

The LEGISLATIVE Branch

The legislative branch is the Utah State Legislature, and is made up of 2 legislative bodies: Lower house, the Utah House of Representatives Upper house, the Utah Senate

The legislature meets at the Utah State Capitol in

Salt Lake City. The annual general session meets for 45 days, beginning on the third Monday of January, of each year.

The LEGISLATIVE Branch

The Utah House of Representatives

The House of Representatives has 75 members

The Speaker of the House is Rebecca Lockhart

The Majority Leader is Brad Lee The Minority Leader is David Litvack Members are elected to 2-year terms,

with no term limits

The LEGISLATIVE Branch

The Utah Senate The Senate has 29 members The Senate President is Michael

Waddoups The Majority Leader is Scott Jenkins The Minority Ross Romero Members are elected to 4-year terms,

with no term limits

The Judicial Branch

The Utah Judicial Branch is divided into five separate courts: Utah Supreme Court Court of Appeals District Court Juvenile Court Justice courts

The Judicial Branch

Utah Supreme Court The Utah Supreme Court is the court of

“last resort” in Utah. It has final authority in the interpretation

of the Utah Constitution. It has 5 justices who each serve 10-year

terms. Justices are appointed by the governor

and confirmed by the legislature. The Chief Justice is Christine Durham.

The Judicial Branch

Utah Court of Appeals The Utah Court of Appeals was created

in 1987. It hears all appeals from the Juvenile

and District Courts (except small claims).

It has 7 judges who serve 6-year terms. The Presiding Judge is Pamela

Greenwood.

The Judicial Branch

District Court The District Court is the state trial court

of general jurisdiction. There are 8 judicial districts throughout

the state. There are 71 full-time district judges who

serve in these 8 judicial districts. District courts try all civil cases, all

criminal cases, and certain misdemeanors.

The Judicial Branch

Juvenile Court The Juvenile Court is a court of special

jurisdiction. There are 8 juvenile districts throughout the

state. There are 28 full-time judges and 1

commissioner. It has equal status to the district court. Juvenile courts only deal with youths under

the age of 18, who break any federal, state, or municipal law.

The Judicial Branch

Justice Court Justice courts are established by counties

and municipalities. There are 134 county and municipal courts

throughout the state. There are 108 justice court judges. They are appointed by city officials and

serve 4-year terms. Justice courts deal with misdemeanors, small

claims, minor crimes, and ordinance violations.

Utah’s County Governments

At the local level, Utah is split into 29 counties. Each county has its own responsibilities, including: Law enforcement Finances Elections Roads & sewers Other issues related to infrastructure

Most of Utah’s counties are run by county commissioners, who are elected to 4-year terms, but usually only serve a few months out of the year.

Utah’s National Representatives

The Federal Government’s legislative branch is known as the United States Congress. It is made up of 2 legislative bodies: Lower house, the United States House of

Representatives Upper house, the United States Senate

Utah’s national representatives

The U.S. House of Representatives

The size of a state’s population determines the number of representatives it can send to Washington D.C.

Utah currently has 3 representatives A member of the house is called a

congressman, and serves 2-year terms. Utah’s current congressmen are:

Rob Bishop (1st Congressional District) Jim Matheson (2nd Congressional District) Jason Chaffetz (3rd Congressional District)

Utah’s national representatives

Utah’s Congressmen

Utah’s national representatives

The U.S. Senate

All states in the union may elect 2 representatives to send to Washington D.C., making up the 100-member body of the U.S. Senate.

A member of the senate is called a senator, and serves 4-year terms.

Utah’s current senators are: Orrin Hatch (Senior Senator) Mike Lee (Junior Senator)

Utah’s national representatives

Utah’s Senators

IMages

Title Slide (Google Images, treehugger.com)Slide 3 (stockphotos.it)Slide 4 (utah.gov)Slide 5 (planetware.com)Slide 6 (wikipedia.com)Slide 7 (wikipedia.com)Slide 8 (thefreshscent.com)Slide 14 (digitalnewspapers.org)Slide 15 (foxtravelandtours.com)Slide 17 (Google Images)Slide 19 (morewhat.com, varight.com)