State representative, House District 56 · Republican
i
February 10, 2022 file photo: Val L. Peterson during Utah House service. Photo: Utah Reps / Utah House of Representatives · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
February 10, 2022 file photo: Val L. Peterson during Utah House service. Photo: Utah Reps / Utah House of Representatives · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Val L. Peterson is a candidate for Utah House, District 56. The ballot lists Val L. Peterson, Republican. The district covers all or part of Utah County.
Val L. Peterson's House biography records a 32-year Utah National Guard career followed by higher-education administration, including work at Utah Valley University. His education includes communications degrees and a doctorate in educational leadership at Brigham Young University and a strategic-studies master's degree from the U.S. Army War College. That background combines military institutional experience with university management and educational leadership. [1]
House District 56
Peterson began House service in January 2011 and represents District 56 in Utah County. His biography identifies a district extending from American Fork toward Orem. Current standing assignments include Education and Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. Those responsibilities place schools and the justice system within his portfolio alongside the fiscal and veterans-related duties recorded elsewhere in his current legislative assignments. [1]
Which institutions the education code covers
Peterson sponsored 2026 HB279, Higher Education Code Amendments. The introduced bill proposed including private postsecondary educational institutions in specified statutory provisions that apply to higher-education institutions, along with related technical changes. It is an example of work on the scope and definitions of higher-education law, with corresponding changes across the statutory references affected by adding private postsecondary institutions. The introduced bill did not include an appropriation. [2]
In the 2026 General Session, Val L. Peterson was chief sponsor of H.B. 342, Federal Grant Process Amendments. It raises the dollar thresholds for approving new federal funds requests, sends the largest requests through the Executive Appropriations Committee and the full Legislature before the state applies, and creates a legislative oversight committee for each approved large request. The governor signed it on March 18, 2026. [3]
In the 2026 General Session, Val L. Peterson was chief sponsor of H.B. 279, Higher Education Code Amendments. It extends parts of the code that apply to higher education institutions to private postsecondary institutions. The governor signed it on March 19, 2026. [4]
Appropriations, military affairs and health oversight
The current roster lists Peterson on Executive Appropriations, the Veterans and Military Affairs Commission and oversight of the Rural Health Transformation Grant. He also serves on interim committees for Education and Political Subdivisions. The portfolio brings statewide budget work, veterans matters and agency review together, connecting his military and university background with responsibilities beyond the education-code proposal summarized in this profile. [1]
Profile sources
Profile refreshed October 20, 2026. Candidate statements describe the candidate's own experience or positions; official records and reporting are labeled separately.
B.A., Communications/PR, Brigham Young University; M.A., Communications, Brigham Young University; M.S., Strategic Studies, United States Army War College; Ph.D., Educational Leadership, Brigham Young University
