Government of Girls State

GOVERNMENT OF GIRLS STATE

ALA Utah Girls State gives citizens an opportunity to participate in government at four levels – city, school board, county, and state. Girls State consists of cities, counties, and two political parties. The political parties at Girls State are not meant to be representative of any existing political party.
Party organizing meetings/conventions are held on the city, county, and state levels to elect a chairwoman, vice chairwoman and secretary. These Party officials conduct nominating conventions on the County and State level.
The government of Girls State is divided into three branches – Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.

  • Executive: This power is vested in the ALA Girls State Governor.

  • Legislative: This power is vested in the ALA Girls State Legislature which consists of the Senate and House of Representatives.

  • Judicial: This power is vested in the ALA Girls State Attorney General. She may be assisted in court procedures by attorneys, jurors, court clerks, and others.

What is a GREEN office?

At Girls State you will be assigned to a political party—either the Nationalist or Federalist party. GREEN offices are opportunities for you to be part of your political party leadership. If elected you will be able to serve in your local School District, in the Judicial system, and to run or help run the party caucus/convention meetings in the city, county, and/or state levels.
GREEN means go—which means you can have as many of these positions as you are elected or appointed to. At these party meetings, appointments are made to serve on committees or in special assignments. Being involved in these offices is an opportunity to be involved and to maybe prepare you to run for a RED office if you desire.
Note: You do not have to have a GREEN office to run for or hold a RED office. Also, once you have been elected to a RED office you may still run and hold additional GREEN offices.

What is a RED office?

RED offices are opportunities for you to serve as an elected official for your city, school district, county, OR state. You are only allowed to hold one RED office. You will serve in this position and fulfill the duties of this office while at Girls State this week.

Political Party Offices at Girls State

(GREEN Offices)

Any girl may run for and be elected to one or more political party offices (GREEN) and still file and run for any elected office (RED). Even if you have been elected to a RED office you may run for additional GREEN offices.

Your counselor will assign you to a political party when you arrive. You will be a member of that party the entire week and attend all the party meetings for your assigned party.

City: (Each city is divided into 2 political parties, Nats & Feds.)

  • Each party in each city will elect the following:

    • Chairwoman

    • Vice Chairwoman

    • Secretary

    • (7) Delegates for County Convention

    • (3) Delegates for State Convention

  • Chairwoman and her officers appoint:

    • Sergeant at Arms

    • Registrar from the party in power (the party of the returning Girls State Governor)

County: (The counties are divided into 2 political parties, Nats & Feds. There are Conventions for each county and party)

  • Each party in each county will elect or appoint the following:

    • Chairwoman

    • Vice Chairwoman

    • Secretary

    • (7) Delegates-at-Large for the State Conventions

State: (At the State level we are divided into 2 political parties, Nats & Feds.)

  • Each party will elect the following:

    • Chairwoman

    • Vice Chairwoman

    • Secretary

Elected Offices at Girls State

(RED Offices)

A Citizen duly elected to one office (City, County, or State) cannot resign in order to run for another RED office. This rule does not apply to elected Party Offices (GREEN). Citizens who are appointed or hired for a position can also hold an elected office (RED). READ THE PRE-CAMPAIGNING RULES LISTED BELOW.

City Offices

  • Mayor

  • City Councilwomen

  • City Attorney

  • City Recorder

  • City Treasurer

  • City Public Relations Officer

  • State Senator (THIS IS NOT GIRLS NATION)

  • State Representatives

School District Offices

  • School Board Member

County Offices

  • **Commissioners

  • County Assessor

  • County Attorney

  • County Auditor

  • County Clerk

  • County Recorder

  • County Sheriff

  • County Treasurer

  • Mock Trial Attorney

**The commissioner receiving the most votes will be the Commission Chair.

State Offices

Those elected to these offices will return the following year to run ALA Utah Girls State

  • Governor

  • Attorney General

  • 2 Girls Nation Senators

ALA Girls Nation: At ALA Utah Girls State, two girls are selected to go to Washington, DC, July 20-27, 2024, to represent Utah at ALA Girls Nation. They are called ALA Girls Nation Senators. The nominees will write both a bill and an essay and participate in an individual interview. Once the Director's staff reviews the bills and essays and interviews the candidates, 8 girls will be selected to “run” on their party’s ballot. The ALA Utah Girls State citizens will vote to select the 2 who will go to ALA Girls Nation.

Campaigning at Girls State

You do not need to bring supplies for campaigning. We will provide them. Some of the offices you may run for will require you to give speeches and answer questions, so come prepared to participate in those activities.

IMPORTANT! You cannot announce your plans to run for any office prior to filing for that office. This means that you cannot talk about a specific office you are planning to run for prior to ALA Utah Girls State or even at ALA Utah Girls State until you have filed.

What you CAN do:

  • Discuss what offices there are available to run for at ALA Utah Girls State. You should ask about several offices so that you truly know what is available and to avoid someone interpreting this as indirectly pre-campaigning.

  • Discuss what is required to run for the office(s).

  • Discuss what is required if you are elected to an office.

  • Ask previous ALA Utah Girls State citizens about their experiences.

  • Research current events and political offices to find out more about the office or those who hold those offices in Utah and in the Nation.