Representative Walt Brooks

Walt Brooks, born on January 21, 1973, is an American politician who has been serving in the Utah House of Representatives from the 75th district since 2016. He was appointed in September 2016 to replace Representative Don Ipson, who was appointed to the senate to replace Senator Steve Urquhart.

Brooks is from St. George, Utah, and lives with his wife and five children in the home his great grandfather built. His family is influential in the community, with his grandfather being the namesake of the local Dixie High School football stadium, known as Walt Brooks Stadium. He is the president of RxTrax, a software company dealing with pharmaceutical delivery services tracking.

During the 2022 General Session, Brooks served on the Infrastructure and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee; House Business and Labor Committee; House Government Operations Committee; and House Rules Committee.

In 2022, Representative Brooks ran HB60, Vaccine Passport Amendments, which would make it unlawful for a place of public accommodation to discriminate against an individual based on the individual’s immunity status. The bill was heavily debated and scrutinized during the 2022 General Session. The bill passed the House floor with a vote of 51-23-1, and then passed the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee and Senate floor, but ultimately the bill did not make it to final passage.

In 2021, Brooks successfully ran HB60 which allows for a form of “Constitutional Carry” of a concealed firearm without a permit for adults over the age of 21. Utah also allows adults 18-21 to carry concealed with a provisional permit, but they were not included in this legislation.

Brooks, who attended Dixie High School and Dixie College, was vehemently opposed to the efforts to change the name of his alma mater. Then called Dixie State University (now Utah Tech University), He resisted the bill during the 2021 session, but the name change ultimately happened.

In 2018, Brooks refined some terms related to Polygamy through HB 343. The bill expanded the definition of sexual abuse to include forcing someone into marriage (rather legal or cultural), and similarly changed policy about the rights of runaway children who claim they are subject to forced marriage, or other forms of abuse. Brooks’ district is nearby Hildale, Utah where the FLDS Church has many members who practice polygamy, and the issues this bill concerns is more common.