S.B. 240: Higher Education Institutional Governance

About this bill

Signed by the governor on March 19, 2026. This bill addresses roles and responsibilities of a higher education institution's board of trustees and president.

• Consolidates and reorganizes general duties of boards of trustees for institutions of higher education
• Establishes certain aspects of the relationship between an institution's board of trustees and the institution's president, including: organizational governance; roles and responsibilities in the budgeting process; faculty and personnel issues; and presidential performance evaluation
• Establishes the authority of the board of trustees over internal audits of an institution
• Enacts provisions regarding a president's authority in relation to administrative roles, cabinet members, and the institution's general counsel
• Enacts provisions regarding the duties of an institution's legal counsel, including requiring the Board of Higher Education to make rules regarding the scope of the role of an institution's legal counsel
• Prohibits the president of an institution from retaining outside legal counsel for litigation

Full bill page: steps, fiscal note and sponsors · Chief sponsor Chris H. Wilson