Utah House Bill 249 (Utah Legal Personhood Amendments)

• Authority: Utah
• Parent authority: State governments
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. state and local documents
• Most recent activity: Enacted
• Most recent activity date: 2024-05-01

Risk subdomain coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the risk subdomain are explicitly described.

• AI welfare and rights

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document has minimal risk domain coverage, with only subdomain 7.5 (AI welfare and rights) receiving a coverage score above 1. The legislation explicitly addresses the legal status and rights of AI entities by prohibiting their recognition as legal persons, which directly relates to AI welfare and rights considerations. No other risk domains are substantively addressed.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Public Administration (excl. National Security)

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This legislation applies to Public Administration (excluding National Security) as it governs the actions of governmental entities including courts, legislatures, and agencies with adjudicatory or rulemaking authority. The statute does not regulate AI use in specific economic sectors but rather restricts governmental entities across all sectors from granting legal personhood to AI.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding state statute enacted by the Utah Legislature with mandatory prohibitions on governmental entities, using legally enforceable language and creating binding legal obligations.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Utah Legislature
• Summary: The document is explicitly enacted by the Utah Legislature as indicated in the opening clause and represents state legislative action.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Governmental entities including courts, the Legislature, legislative bodies of political subdivisions, and other state or political subdivision entities with adjudicatory or rulemaking authority
• Summary: The statute explicitly restricts governmental entities from granting or recognizing legal personhood for AI and other non-human entities. The definition section clearly defines governmental entity to include courts, legislatures, and entities with adjudicatory or rulemaking authority.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Utah courts and governmental entities
• Summary: While no specific enforcement body is named, the statute creates binding legal obligations enforceable through the Utah court system and governmental entities bound by the law.

Monitor

• Summary: The document does not specify any monitoring body, oversight mechanism, or evaluation process for tracking compliance with the legal personhood restrictions.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

No lifecycle stages identified.

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document does not address specific AI lifecycle stages. It is a legal restriction on the recognition of AI as a legal person, which operates independently of AI development, deployment, or operational phases.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

No technical scope terms identified.

Technical Scope Summary

The document mentions artificial intelligence only in the context of prohibiting its legal personhood. It does not define AI, discuss AI models or systems, or reference any technical specifications, compute thresholds, or AI categories.