About the Division of Administrative Rules
Division Mission
The Division of Administrative Rules enables citizen participation in their own government by supporting agency rulemaking and ensuring agency compliance with the Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act.
Division Goals
The Division's primary goals focus on its charge to make regulatory information available to the public, and on its charge to assist state agencies.
- Timely publication of the Utah State Bulletin: Post the Utah State Bulletin online on or before the regulatory publication date.
- Timely publication of the Utah Administrative Code: Post the Utah Administrative Code update online, with rules current through the 1st of a given month, by the 10th of the month.
- Accurate Rule Filings: Filings with issues resolved prior to publication as % of total filings.
See also the Division's recent accomplishments.
Division Organization Chart
The director of the Division of Administrative Rules oversees the operations of the division. The position is created by statute -- Section 63G-3-401. The director is appointed by the Executive Director of the Department of Administrative Services with the consent of the Governor.
Contacting the Division
You may contact the division with questions about the rulemaking process. However, questions about the content or application of a particular administrative rule must be referred to the agency that issued the rule. The Division has prepared a contact list with phone numbers for agencies that issue administrative rules.
Business Hours: 8 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday, except on state holidays.
Phone: 801-538-3764
E-mail contact form
Mail: Division of Administrative Rules, PO Box 141007, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-1007
If you need to visit the Division, please call in advance and schedule an appointment. A regular series of legal publishing deadlines make the staff unavailable on certain days.
Brief History
The Division of Administrative Rules is an executive branch agency under the Department of Administrative Services.
Administrative rulemaking was first centralized in Utah in 1973. This action followed a national trend that began in 1935 with the passage of the Federal Register Act, and in 1946 with the passage of the federal Administrative Procedure Act. Prior to 1973, individual agencies in Utah used their own processes for issuing rules. In 1973, the Legislature passed the Utah Administrative Rule Making (sic) Act (Chapter 172, Laws of Utah 1973) and charged the State Archivist with the responsibility for receiving rule filings and publishing rules.
In 1985, to heighten awareness of administrative rules and to address what appeared to be a lack of attention by the executive branch with regard to the regulatory process, the Legislature assigned the rulemaking functions to the Office of Administrative Rules, with a State Rulemaking Coordinator answering to the State Archivist as part of a recodification of the entire process (Chapter 158, Laws of Utah 1985). In 1987, to further emphasize the importance of rulemaking and to secure funding for publication, the Legislature changed the 'Office' designation to 'Division'. The director reports to the Executive Director of the Department of Administrative Services (a cabinet department) (Chapter 241, Laws of Utah 1987).
Services
Services provided by the Division of Administrative Rules are detailed in the Division's Service Plan. How the Division provided these services during last fiscal year is detailed in the Division's Customer Services Summary.
Additional Information
If you have a question about the rulemaking process or the information presented on this page, please contact the Division of Administrative Rules.