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Utah Territorial Legislative Assembly

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The Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah was the legislative branch of government in Utah Territory, replacing the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret. The Act of Congress creating the territory in 1850 specified that the territorial legislature should consist of a council of 13 members serving 2-year terms, and a 26-member house of representatives elected for 1-year terms.

In 1869, the Congressional appropriations bill, which also provided for legislative pay and expenses, dictated that all territories should only hold legislative sessions biennially and members would serve 2-year terms.[1] Since the Legislative Assembly was out of session at the time, the Utah general election that year proceeded under the old system, and in its 1870 session the legislature changed the term for members being elected to the House that year to 2 years. Meanwhile, because the Territorial Council members had just been elected to their regular terms, their next election was set for 1871.[2] The end result was that going forward, the House of Representatives would be elected in even-numbered years, and the Territorial Council in odd-numbered years, but legislative sessions were held only in even-numbered years.

List of Legislative Assemblies

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Annual sessions (1851-1869)

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After the first Legislative Assembly, which remained in session much longer in order to establish functional operations of the territorial government, regular annual sessions were scheduled for the second Monday in December and set to run for 40 days. Although the flurry of concluding business at the close of a session caused a few legislatures to adjourn a day or two past 40, beyond the 1st only the 2nd and 10th Legislative Assemblies required a special session (in the case of the 10th, one held in advance of the regular session rather than after). The 16th Legislative Assembly adjusted the start of future sessions to the second Monday in January, so that the legislature elected in 1867 did not begin meeting until 1868.

Biennial sessions (1870-1894)

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Territorial apportionment

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Map of Utah Territory showing county names and boundaries
County map of Utah Territory as of 1856. The white background shows the modern-day State of Utah.

Representation in the Legislative Assembly was apportioned by Governor Brigham Young prior to the initial 1851 election by county.[3] The apportionment was comprehensively revised by the legislature in 1862.[4] As more counties were created thereafter, they shared their representation with the county from which they were created (Rich from Cache and Kane from Washington in 1864, Piute from Beaver and Sevier from Sanpete in 1865).

Territorial Council, apportionment by county
County 1851-1863 1863-1880
Beaver (attached to Millard, 1857) 1 (shared with Iron)
Box Elder (attached to Weber, 1857) 1 (shared with Weber)
Cache (attached to Weber, 1857) 1
Carson 0 n/a
Cedar (attached to Utah, 1857) n/a
Davis 1 1 (shared with Morgan)
Green River 0 (attached to Salt Lake)
Iron 1 1 (shared with Beaver)
Juab (attached to Utah, 1852) 1 (shared with Millard)
Malad (attached to Weber, 1857) n/a
Millard 1 (beginning 1853) 1 (shared with Juab)
Morgan n/a 1 (shared with Davis)
Salt Lake 5 (6 in 1851-1852) 4
Sanpete 1 1
Shambip (attached to Salt Lake, 1857) n/a
Summit 0 (attached to Salt Lake)
Tooele (attached to Salt Lake) (attached to Salt Lake)
Utah 2 2 (shared with Wasatch)
Wasatch n/a 2 (shared with Utah)
Washington (attached to Iron, 1857) 1
Weber 2 1 (shared with Box Elder)
House of Representatives, apportionment by county
County 1851-1856 1856-1859[5] 1859-1862[6] 1862-1880
Beaver n/a (attached to Millard) 1 1
Box Elder n/a 1 (shared with Cache and Malad) 1 (shared with Cache and Malad) 1
Cache n/a 1 (shared with Box Elder and Malad) 1 (shared with Box Elder and Malad) 2
Carson 1 (beginning 1855)[7] 1 1 n/a
Cedar n/a (attached to Utah) (attached to Utah) n/a
Davis 2 (3 in 1851) 2 2 2 (shared with Morgan)
Green River 1 (beginning 1854) 1 1 1 (shared with Summit)
Iron 2 2 2 1
Juab 1 (beginning 1852) 1 1 1
Malad n/a 1 (shared with Box Elder and Cache) 1 (shared with Box Elder and Cache) n/a
Millard 1 (beginning 1852) 1 1 1
Morgan n/a n/a n/a 2 (shared with Davis)
Salt Lake 11 (13 in 1851, 12 in 1852-1853) 11 9 6
Sanpete 1 1 1 2
Shambip n/a (attached to Tooele) (attached to Tooele) n/a
Summit 0 0 0 1 (shared with Green River)
Tooele 1 1 1 1
Utah 3 3 3 3
Wasatch n/a n/a n/a 1
Washington n/a (attached to Iron) (attached to Iron) 1
Weber 2 (3 in 1851-1854)[7] 1 2 2

Congress reduced the number of legislators in 1880 to 12 on the Territorial Council and 24 in the House of Representatives. Together with the creation of Emery, San Juan, and Uintah counties, this forced the Legislative Assembly to devise a new redistricting scheme.[8]

Legislative Assembly apportionment, 1880-1887
(combined cells indicate shared representation)
Counties Territorial Council House of Representatives
Cache and Rich 1 2
Box Elder 1 1
Weber 2
Wasatch and Uintah 1 1
Summit 1
Morgan 6
Salt Lake and Davis 4
Tooele 1
Juab and Utah 2 4
Sanpete, Sevier, and Emery 1 2
Beaver and Piute 1 1
Millard 1
Washington and Kane 1 1
Iron and San Juan 1

Beginning in 1888, legislators were elected from geographic districts instead of by county after the Edmunds-Tucker Act nullified previous apportionments and again required redistricting of the entire territory.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Elections - The Law upon the Subject". Deseret News. August 2, 1871. p. 6. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  2. ^ "An Act. To provide for the election of the members of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah". Deseret News. July 27, 1870. p. 12. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  3. ^ "Proclamation". Deseret News. July 12, 1851. p. 5. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  4. ^ "An Act Apportioning the Representation of Utah Territory". Deseret News. January 29, 1862. p. 8. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  5. ^ "An Act apportioning the Representation of Utah Territory". Deseret News. July 23, 1856. p. 8. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  6. ^ "An Act Apportioning to certain counties, Representatives to the Legislative Assembly". Deseret News. February 16, 1859. p. 3. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Resolution Apportioning a Representative to Carson County". Deseret News. February 8, 1855. p. 4. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  8. ^ "Re-districting Bill". Deseret Evening News. February 21, 1880. p. 3. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
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