RulesNews

Rulewriters will occasionally quote statute in rule, either because they believe it will add weight to the rule text, or because they want to demonstrate conclusively the authority to write a particular rule.  But, quoting statute in rule carries risks.  Do not quote statute in rule. It serves no legal purpose. There is no legal purpose served in repeating language

When filing text for a five-year review, the text may not reflect amendments that are not yet effective. It must match the text on file with the division. Five-year review text that includes underlining or strikeout will be returned for correction. The Division of Administrative Rules will change the “Notice of Continuation” date when the five-year review is codified. The

The Division recently sponsored rulewriting training sessions among most state agencies. Since that training, we have returned several rule filings as incomplete and received the response, “but that is how we were told to do it!” Our most humble apologies. When you file a rule affecting just one section, you must include the following for the rule to be correctly

Subsection 63-46a-3(7) permits an agency to incorporate different types of materials by reference in rules. These materials include: (i) all or any part of another code, rule, or regulation that has been adopted by a federal agency, an agency or political subdivision of this state, an agency of another state, or by a nationally recognized organization or association; (ii) state

The 12th edition of the “Rulewriting Manual for Utah” is available online. You may browse the HTML version at http://www.rules.utah.gov/agencyresources/manual-rw/index.html. You may download and print the PDF version from http://www.rules.utah.gov/agencyresources/manual-rulewriter.pdf. This version of the rulewriting manual is geared toward the rulewriter. As such, it contains only the style guide and material dealing with the practical aspects of the process (e.g.,

The Division is pleased to announce the 12th edition of the Rulewriting Manual for Utah. This edition marks several significant changes for the manual. First, the Division elected to make this edition an electronic edition, readily available to those who need access to it, and flexible enough to allow clarification and updates without waiting for a reprint. Soon, a PDF

The Division’s rule filing application — eRules — requires that an agency file the rule text in rich text format (RTF). In the past, an RTF version has not been available on the Division’s web site. Instead, each agency has had to contact the Division to obtain a copy of the current rule in RTF format. Now, an RTF version

The editors at the Division of Administrative Rules offer the following recommendations to agencies when they file rules. Always obtain an “rtf” version of the rule text from the Division before you start to prepare an amendment or a repeal. All changes to the text must be marked: added text must be underlined; deleted text must be surrounded by brackets

When an agency prepares a rule for amendment, additions must be underlined and deletions must be struck out and surrounded by brackets. Recently, an agency attempted to use a Microsoft Word formatting feature called “word underline”. This feature uses different codes to mark the text, and is therefore treated differently. In order to assure that the rule text you prepare