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In Utah counties that use a "council-manager" form of government—where an elected council appoints a professional manager to handle daily operations—this bill would formally place executive power in the hands of the county council rather than the manager, requiring the council chair to ratify any executive actions the council takes. Under the bill, the council could not delegate to the manager the powers of an elected county executive or elected officers such as the sheriff, assessor, or treasurer, and could not require those officers to report to the manager; council members would also be barred from discussing salary adjustments for elected officers with the manager. The bill would declare county managers to be at-will employees and, starting May 6, 2026, would prohibit employment contracts that include automatic renewals, terms longer than four years, severance pay upon termination, or pay increases that differ from standard policies for other at-will county employees. It would also bar any unelected county employee or officer from carrying out the duties of an elected county executive, while separately allowing county councils to appoint an interim manager during vacancy periods between elections, with that interim manager's term ending once a new manager is appointed.