The Utah High School Activities Association on Wednesday filed suit against the Utah State Board of Education, State of Utah and Sean Reyes, the state’s attorney general over what it claims is unconstitutional overreach into its affairs.
The UHSAA, which governs the athletics and extracurricular activities of Utah’s high schools, filed the case in Third District Court in an attempt to get recently passed legislation —specifically Title 53A Chapter 1 Part 16 of the Utah Code — ruled unconstitutional.
That section of the code, passed last March by the Legislature, bans public schools in the state from paying dues or being a member of any organization that does not comply with the state’s Open and Public Meetings Act, dictates the membership of the governing body of the organization, requires a report to the State Board of Education and addresses disputes and appeals with the organization.
The UHSAA’s challenge of the law is two pronged. First, it argues that the UHSAA is a private non-profit corporation, so it does not have to comply with the state’s open records laws, and it is being unfairly targeted by code so narrowly defined that it only applies to the UHSAA.
The law “specifically targets the UHSAA and places a burden on the UHSAA that is not placed on other similarly situated, private, non-profit corporations,” the suit says, calling the law “arbitrary.”
Second, the UHSAA argues that its property is being taken by the state government without just compensation, a violation of the Utah Constitution. Essentially, it says that the state is interfering with the contract between the UHSAA and its dues-paying members — the state’s public and private high schools.
The suit claims that the relationship between the USHAA and the Board of Education and State Legislature turned sour over the recruitment and attempted transfer of two football players to Summit Academy that were denied.
“Summit threatened the UHSAA, reminding the UHSAA that the Board of Trustees of Summit included the Chair of the USBOE, David Crandall, and the Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, Greg Hughes, and threatening the UHSAA should the eligibility of the two players not be granted. In fact, representatives of Summit said that the UHSAA would be ‘destroyed,’” the suit says.
A spokesman for the attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the suit.