Utah Supreme Court hears challenge over opt-out deadline and whether disputed Summit County incorporation election should proceed

SALT LAKE CITY In oral argument before the Utah Supreme Court, Caroline Olsen, counsel for petitioner Derek Anderson, asked the court to reverse a district courtruling that struck down parts of the stateincorporation statute and to allow a disputed Summit County incorporation election to proceed.

"The question before the court is whether an election should be canceled because a district court wrongly ruled that a statute is unconstitutional under rational basis review. It should not for 3 reasons," Olsen told the justices, listing (1) the statuteis constitutional, (2) Anderson and the public would face irreparable harm if the election were canceled, and (3) the record shows the election can still be free and fair.

The case centers on statutory amendments that set deadlines for when specified landowners may exclude their property from proposed incorporation boundaries. Petitioners argue the cutoff treats similarly situated landowners differently and that the district court was correct to find the statute unconstitutional; Olsen countered that the statute serves multiple legitimate legislative ends, including establishing predictable…