The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Utah bans state and local governments from signing non-disclosure agreements with prospective large-scale data centers
Last action · March 6, 2026: Senate/ filedSponsor: Nate Blouin
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What This Bill Proposed
Utah SB 318 prohibits state agencies, cities, towns, and counties from entering into confidentiality or s with prospective data centers with a connected electrical load capacity of 20 megawatts or greater. Any such agreements entered into on or after the effective date of May 6, 2026, are declared void and unenforceable, and agencies must publicly post any violating contracts on their websites for at least five years.
Residents gain the legal standing to sue in district court to void illegal s, block their enforcement, or compel local and state agencies to publish the withheld contract documents.
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
state agencies
State agencies are prohibited from entering into non-disclosure agreements with prospective data centers and must publicly post any violating contracts on their websites.
municipalities
Cities and towns are barred from signing confidentiality agreements with data center developers and face mandatory public disclosure requirements for violating contracts.
counties
Counties cannot enter into non-disclosure agreements with prospective data centers and must maintain copies of violating agreements on their websites for five years.
prospective data centers
state residents
Residents gain the legal standing to bring district court actions to invalidate prohibited non-disclosure agreements and force public disclosure of contract terms.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What qualifies as a data center under this bill?
What happens if a government agency signs a prohibited non-disclosure agreement anyway?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · introduced in the Senate.
Procedural history
11 actions- Mar 6, 2026SenateSenate/ filed
- Mar 6, 2026SenateSenate/ strike enacting clause
- Feb 24, 2026SenateSenate/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst
- Feb 24, 2026ReleasedLFA/ fiscal note publicly available for SB0318
- Feb 23, 2026Version SponsorLFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for SB0318
- Feb 23, 2026SenateIntroducedSenate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
Show 5 earlier actions
- Feb 23, 2026SenateSenate/ received bill from Legislative Research
- Feb 23, 2026Legislative Fiscal AgencyLFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for SB0318
- Feb 23, 2026Legislative Fiscal AnalystLFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for SB0318
- Feb 23, 2026Legislative Research and General CounselNumbered Bill Publicly Distributed
- Feb 23, 2026Legislative Research and General CounselBill Numbered but not Distributed
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Elimination of Confidentiality in Data Center Recruitment
The legislation creates a uniform statutory prohibition across municipal, county, and state levels against keeping prospective data center negotiations confidential.
Connected Entities
Sources
le.utah.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy60Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz65Current news / social attention level
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