Utah auditor says he didn’t sign up to be ‘bathroom monitor,’ criticizes transgender bathroom bill

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — As his office continues to be bombarded by fake tip line complaints, Utah Auditor John Dougall said that he didn’t sign up to be the state’s “bathroom monitor.”

In a strongly-worded statement this week, Dougall criticized lawmakers for rushing House Bill 275 through the legislature this past session, noting that his office was mandated by law to create the online complaint form.

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“Even some legislators don’t fully understand what the bill is,” he told ABC4’s Brien McElhatten on Wednesday. “We had some that were upset thinking that we were monitoring people.”

Since it went live on May 1, the bathroom bill complaint tip line has received over 10,000 fake complaints from transgender activists and others in Utah and elsewhere.

According to Dougall, not a single complaint has been legitimate. “All bogus,” he told ABC4.

In the interview, the state auditor emphasized that the complaint form is designed to gather possible violations by government entities, not individuals.

In his statement, Dougall specified that his office will not investigate the actions of private people, nor will they investigate to determine anyone’s sex or gender.

“We are not required — and have no desire — to intrude on the most intimate aspects of a person’s life,” he said.

While HB 275 went into effect after Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed it on Jan. 30, certain enforcement provisions were delayed until last week so that schools and other state-run entities could have time to comply.

The complex bill restricts transgender people from accessing state-run changing rooms and bathrooms that don’t align with their sex assigned at birth. Facilities in violation of the law could face fines up to $10,000 per day.

The bill carries no legal consequences for Utahns who use a bathroom that aligns with their gender identity, so long as they aren’t engaging in criminal behavior.

The law also requires state agencies to have single-occupancy bathrooms in new construction, and mandates that they consider retrofitting or remodeling existing buildings.

In speaking with ABC4 this week, Dougall said there are likely better, more strategic ways to get compliance for state facilities than an online complaint system. Perhaps a system involving experts in construction, he suggested.

State Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan, the main sponsor of HB 275, released her own statement this week in response to Dougall, saying the backlash to the bill was expected.

“It’s not surprising that activists are taking the time to send false reports,” she said.

While writing the bill, Birkeland said she and others weighed several options on which agency would be best suited to field complaints and ultimately decided that it’s up to Dougall’s office.

“[A]auditing governmental entities and complaints against them is the responsibility of the state auditor’s office,” she wrote.

She and other supporters of HB 275 said the bill wasn’t designed to target transgender individuals, but to protect Utahns in private spaces, especially women and girls.

Opponents of the bill have argued that it unfairly singles out transgender people and fosters an environment where they could be bullied or harassed.

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