1. (1) Except as provided in Subsection (5), a person may not send an email using the email of a public entity:

   1. (a) for a political purpose;
   2. (b) to advocate for or against a proposed initiative, initiative, proposed referendum, referendum, a proposed bond, a bond, or any ballot proposition; or
   3. (c) to solicit a campaign contribution.

2. (2)

   1. (a) The lieutenant governor shall, after giving the person and the complainant notice and an opportunity to be heard, impose a civil fine against a person who violates Subsection (1) as follows:

      1. (i) up to $250 for a first violation; and
      2. (ii) except as provided in Subsection (3), for each subsequent violation committed after the lieutenant governor imposes a fine against the person for a first violation, $1,000 multiplied by the number of violations committed by the person.
   2. (b) A person may, within 30 days after the day on which the lieutenant governor imposes a fine against the person under this Subsection (2), appeal the fine to a district court.
3. (3) The lieutenant governor shall consider a violation of this section as a first violation if the violation is committed more than seven years after the day on which the person last committed a violation of this section.
4. (4) For purposes of this section, one violation means one act of sending an email, regardless of the number of recipients of the email.

5. (5) A person does not violate this section if:

   1. (a) the lieutenant governor finds that the email described in Subsection (1) was inadvertently sent by the person using the email of a public entity;
   2. (b) the person is directly providing information solely to another person or a group of people in response to a question asked by the other person or group of people;

   3. (c) the information the person emails is an argument or rebuttal argument prepared under Section 20A-7-401.5 or 20A-7-402, and the email includes each opposing argument and rebuttal argument that:

      1. (i) relates to the same proposed initiative, initiative, proposed referendum, or referendum; and
      2. (ii) complies with the requirements of Section 20A-7-401.5 or 20A-7-402; or

   4. (d) the person is engaging in:

      1. (i) an internal communication solely within the public entity;
      2. (ii) a communication solely with another public entity;
      3. (iii) a communication solely with legal counsel;
      4. (iv) a communication solely with the sponsors of an initiative or referendum;
      5. (v) a communication solely with a land developer for a project permitted by a local land use law that is challenged by a proposed referendum or a referendum; or
      6. (vi) a communication solely with a person involved in a business transaction directly relating to a project described in Subsection (5)(d)(v).
6. (6) A violation of this section does not invalidate an otherwise valid election.
7. (7) An email sent in violation of Subsection (1), as determined by the records officer, constitutes a record, as defined in Section 63G-2-103, that is subject to the provisions of Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act, notwithstanding any applicability of Subsection 63G-2-103(26)(b)(i).

Amended by Chapter 476, 2025 General Session