4 'good faith' alleged violations of Utah's 'bathroom bill' could not be substantiated, auditor says

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SALT LAKE CITY — Of more than 12,000 complaints to the Office of the State Auditor's tip line set up after the passage of HB257 — Utah's so-called transgender bathroom bill — five appeared to be "good faith" efforts of "plausible violations" of the statute.

Utah State Auditor John Dougall announced Wednesday that after reviews of four of the five complaints, "we were unable to substantiate the allegations in any of the four complaints, but we did note two separate issues."

Review of the fifth complaint is ongoing, he said.

Dougall said of the more than 12,000 complaints his office has received, "the overwhelming majority were frivolous at best and transparent hoaxes at worst."

Of the governmental entities named in the four complaints, the auditor's office found the following:

Duchesne County failed to provide the auditor with the county's required privacy compliance plan. "We have reminded the county of its duty to adopt a compliance plan and have allowed them 30 days to do so."
Provo School District had not yet adopted a final privacy compliance plan, but its draft privacy compliance plan appears to address the requirements of the statute. "We have allowed Provo School District 30 days to adopt the plan.'
Alpine School District has a privacy compliance plan that appears to comply with the statute.
North Sevier Recreation Center has a privacy compliance plan that appears to comply with statute.

HB257, passed earlier this year, requires transgender people to use a public restroom or locker room consistent with their gender designated at birth unless they've fully transitioned.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan, also requires government entities to provide a single-occupant restroom in new construction and consider the feasibility of retrofit or remodel projects.

HB257 requires the Utah State Auditor to establish a process to receive and investigate alleged violations of the statute by government entities. If violations are substantiated, the government entity has 30 days to "cure the violation."