HB 482

02-04 09:19  H.B. 482
1Social Health Amendments
                                         2026 GENERAL SESSION
                                              STATE OF UTAH
                                    Chief Sponsor: Angela Romero
                                               Senate Sponsor:
2
3   LONG TITLE
4   General Description:
5This bill defines social health.
6   Highlighted Provisions:
7This bill:
8▸ defines social health.
9   Money Appropriated in this Bill:
10None
11   Other Special Clauses:
12None
13   Utah Code Sections Affected:
14   AMENDS:
1568-3-12.5, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2025, First Special Session, Chapter 17
16
17   Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
18Section 1. Section 68-3-12.5 is amended to read:
1968-3-12.5 . Definitions for Utah Code.
20   (1) The definitions listed in this section apply to the Utah Code, unless:
21(a) the definition is inconsistent with the manifest intent of the Legislature or repugnant
22to the context of the statute; or
23(b) a different definition is expressly provided for the respective title, chapter, part,
                                                                                                             H.B. 482
24section, or subsection.
25   (2) "Adjudicative proceeding" means:
26(a) an action by a board, commission, department, officer, or other administrative unit of
27the state that determines the legal rights, duties, privileges, immunities, or other legal
28interests of one or more identifiable persons, including an action to grant, deny,
29revoke, suspend, modify, annul, withdraw, or amend an authority, right, or license;
30and
H.B. 482  02-04 09:19
31      (b) judicial review of an action described in Subsection (2)(a).
32  (3) "Administrator" includes "executor" when the subject matter justifies the use.
33  (4) "Advisory board," "advisory commission," and "advisory council" mean a board,
34      commission, committee, or council that:
35      (a) is created by, and whose duties are provided by, statute or executive order;
36      (b) performs its duties only under the supervision of another person as provided by
37statute; and
38      (c) provides advice and makes recommendations to another person that makes policy for
39the benefit of the general public.
40  (5) "Armed forces" means the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space
41      Force, and Coast Guard.
42  (6) "County executive" means:
43      (a) the county commission, in the county commission or expanded county commission
44form of government established under Title 17, Chapter 62, Forms of County
45Government;
46      (b) the county executive, in the county executive-council optional form of government
47authorized by Section 17-62-203; or
48      (c) the county manager, in the council-manager optional form of government authorized
49by Section 17-62-204.
50  (7) "County legislative body" means:
51      (a) the county commission, in the county commission or expanded county commission
52form of government established under Title 17, Chapter 62, Forms of County
53Government;
54      (b) the county council, in the county executive-council optional form of government
55authorized by Section 17-62-203; and
56      (c) the county council, in the council-manager optional form of government authorized
57by Section 17-62-204.
58  (8) "Depose" means to make a written statement made under oath or affirmation.
59  (9)(a) "Equal" means, with respect to biological sex, of the same value.
60      (b) "Equal" does not mean, with respect to biological sex:
61(i) a characteristic of being the same or identical; or
62(ii) a requirement that biological sexes be ignored or co-mingled in every
63circumstance.
64  (10) "Executor" includes "administrator" when the subject matter justifies the use.
                                                 -2-
02-04 09:19  H.B. 482
65   (11) "Father" means a parent who is of the male sex.
66   (12) "Female" means the characteristic of an individual whose biological reproductive
67system is of the general type that functions in a way that could produce ova.
68   (13) "Guardian" includes a person who:
69(a) qualifies as a guardian of a minor or incapacitated person pursuant to testamentary or
70court appointment; or
71(b) is appointed by a court to manage the estate of a minor or incapacitated person.
72   (14) "Highway" includes:
73(a) a public bridge;
74(b) a county way;
75(c) a county road;
76(d) a common road; and
77(e) a state road.
78   (15) "Intellectual disability" means the same as that term is defined in the most recent
79edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the
80American Psychiatric Association.
81   (16) "Intermediate care facility for people with an intellectual disability" means an
82institution or distinct part thereof for people with an intellectual disability or related
83conditions, if the institution or distinct part thereof meets the requirements described in
8442 U.S.C. Secs. 1396d(d)(1) through (3).
85   (17) "Land" includes:
86(a) land;
87(b) a tenement;
88(c) a hereditament;
89(d) a water right;
90(e) a possessory right; and
91(f) a claim.
92   (18) "Male" means the characteristic of an individual whose biological reproductive system
93is of the general type that functions to fertilize the ova of a female.
94   (19) "Man" means an adult human male.
95   (20) "Month" means a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed.
96   (21) "Mother" means a parent who is of the female sex.
97   (22) "Oath" includes "affirmation."
98   (23) "Person" means:
                                                  -3-
 H.B. 482  02-04 09:19
99      (a) an individual;
100      (b) an association;
101      (c) an institution;
102      (d) a corporation;
103      (e) a company;
104      (f) a trust;
105      (g) a limited liability company;
106      (h) a partnership;
107      (i) a political subdivision;
108      (j) a government office, department, division, bureau, or other body of government; and
109      (k) any other organization or entity.
110  (24) "Personal property" includes:
111      (a) money;
112      (b) goods;
113      (c) chattels;
114      (d) effects;
115      (e) evidences of a right in action;
116      (f) a written instrument by which a pecuniary obligation, right, or title to property is
117created, acknowledged, transferred, increased, defeated, discharged, or diminished;
118and
119      (g) a right or interest in an item described in Subsections (24)(a) through (f).
120  (25) "Personal representative," "executor," and "administrator" include:
121      (a) an executor;
122      (b) an administrator;
123      (c) a successor personal representative;
124      (d) a special administrator; and
125      (e) a person who performs substantially the same function as a person described in
126Subsections (25)(a) through (d) under the law governing the person's status.
127  (26) "Policy board," "policy commission," or "policy council" means a board, commission,
128      or council that:
129      (a) is authorized to make policy for the benefit of the general public;
130      (b) is created by, and whose duties are provided by, the constitution or statute; and
131      (c) performs its duties according to its own rules without supervision other than under
132the general control of another person as provided by statute.
                                                 -4-
 02-04 09:19  H.B. 482
133   (27) "Population" is shown by the most recent state or national census, unless expressly
134provided otherwise.
135   (28) "Process" means a writ or summons issued in the course of a judicial proceeding.
136   (29) "Property" includes both real and personal property.
137   (30) "Real estate" or "real property" includes:
138(a) land;
139(b) a tenement;
140(c) a hereditament;
141(d) a water right;
142(e) a possessory right; and
143(f) a claim.
144   (31) "Review board," "review commission," and "review council" mean a board,
145commission, committee, or council that:
146(a) is authorized to approve policy made for the benefit of the general public by another
147body or person;
148(b) is created by, and whose duties are provided by, statute; and
149(c) performs its duties according to its own rules without supervision other than under
150the general control of another person as provided by statute.
151   (32) "Road" includes:
152(a) a public bridge;
153(b) a county way;
154(c) a county road;
155(d) a common road; and
156(e) a state road.
157   (33) "Sex" means, in relation to an individual, the individual's biological sex, either male or
158female, at birth, according to distinct reproductive roles as manifested by:
159(a) sex and reproductive organ anatomy;
160(b) chromosomal makeup; and
161(c) endogenous hormone profiles.
162   (34) "Signature" includes a name, mark, or sign written with the intent to authenticate an
163instrument or writing.
164   (35) "Social health" means:
165(a) an individual's ability:
166(i) to build and maintain mutually supportive relationships within and across
                                                 -5-
 H.B. 482  02-04 09:19
167communities, including the following types of communities:
168(A) family;
169(B) peers;
170(C) school;
171(D) work; and
172(E) neighborhood;
173(ii) to listen with curiosity;
174(iii) to try to understand the perspective of another individual;
175(iv) to regulate emotion especially during conflict;
176(v) to find common ground with another especially during conflict; and
177(vi) to be empathic to the needs and perspectives of others while asserting the
178individual's own needs and perspectives;
179      (b) considering the needs and perspective of others for any action or measure to ensure
180social health of the individual or the larger community;
181      (c) an individual's feelings of being valued by and listened to by others including those
182who are outside of the individual's immediate family and community; and
183      (d) a measurable construct that assesses an individual's perception of the individual's
184own social health and the extent to which an individual helps to create:
185(i) a climate of mutually supportive relationships within and across communities
186including communities that disagree with each other;
187(ii) a sense of belongingness; and
188(iii) perceived common humanity.
189  [(35)] (36) "State," when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state,
190      district, or territory of the United States.
191  [(36)] (37) "Swear" includes "affirm."
192  [(37)] (38) "Testify" means to make an oral statement under oath or affirmation.
193  [(38)] (39) "Uniformed services" means:
194      (a) the armed forces;
195      (b) the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
196and
197      (c) the commissioned corps of the United States Public Health Service.
198  [(39)] (40) "United States" includes each state, district, and territory of the United States of
199      America.
200  [(40)] (41) "Utah Code" means the 1953 recodification of the Utah Code, as amended,
                                                     -6-
 02-04 09:19  H.B. 482
201unless the text expressly references a portion of the 1953 recodification of the Utah
202Code as it existed:
203(a) on the day on which the 1953 recodification of the Utah Code was enacted; or
204(b)(i) after the day described in Subsection [(40)(a)] (41)(a); and
205(ii) before the most recent amendment to the referenced portion of the 1953
206recodification of the Utah Code.
207   [(41)] (42) "Vessel," when used with reference to shipping, includes a steamboat, canal boat,
208and every structure adapted to be navigated from place to place.
209   [(42)] (43)(a) "Veteran" means an individual who:
210(i) has served in the United States Armed Forces for at least 180 days:
211(A) on active duty; or
212(B) in a reserve component, to include the National Guard; or
213(ii) has incurred an actual service-related injury or disability while in the United
214States Armed Forces regardless of whether the individual completed 180 days; and
215(iii) was separated or retired under conditions characterized as honorable or general.
216(b) This definition is not intended to confer eligibility for benefits.
217   [(43)] (44) "Will" includes a codicil.
218   [(44)] (45) "Woman" means an adult human female.
219   [(45)] (46) "Writ" means an order or precept in writing, issued in the name of:
220(a) the state;
221(b) a court; or
222(c) a judicial officer.
223   [(46)] (47) "Writing" includes:
224(a) printing;
225(b) handwriting; and
226(c) information stored in an electronic or other medium if the information is retrievable
227in a perceivable format.
228Section 2. Effective Date.
229   This bill takes effect on May 6, 2026.
                                                   -7-