SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Starting Tuesday, restaurants across Utah can take down state-mandated signs saying they aren't bars. Parents can be protected if they let their children roam freely. And farmers can begin to eye the prospect of legally growing marijuana for a narrow range of purposes.

Most of the more than 500 laws passed by the state's Legislature this year go into effect 60 days after the end of the short legislative session.

The laws are wide-ranging. Some add new protections for runaway teens and people with dangerous partners. Another transforms the state's transit agency.

Here are some of the most notable new laws that go into effect Tuesday:

__

FREE-RANGE PARENTING

For the first time in the country, Utah lawmakers passed a measure explicitly saying parents aren't breaking the law if their kids travel alone to school, the playground or do other activities by themselves, as long as they're mature enough to handle it. The law doesn't specify how old children should be.

The measure has inspired supporters in New York and Texas to follow suit.

___

ALCOHOL

Utah restaurant owners will be able to take down state-mandated signs near their doors reading: "This premise is licensed as a restaurant, not a bar." The signs were part of a massive liquor-reform bill last year but didn't seem to be making a difference, lawmakers said.

Local attorney Tanner Lenart is working with artist Adam Bateman to make an art project out of the old signs and has urged restaurants to send them to her.

Bars will still have to post signs identifying their status and saying people under 21 are not allowed in.

___

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Terminally ill people within six months of dying may soon be able to buy a very narrow range of marijuana products from a yet-to-be-created state-run dispensary. Farmers will also be able to grow marijuana for research purposes.

An initiative with much broader rules for consuming marijuana is expected to be on the ballot before voters in November.

___

POLYGAMY

Teenagers who leave polygamous communities will have more legal protection from parents who could expose them to sexual abuse or forced marriage. The new law changes the system of notifying families about runaways to state that authorities — and not the home where the child is staying — are required to notify the child's parents.

___

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

People in dating relationships will be able to obtain protective orders against dangerous partners, fixing what lawmakers have described as a gap in current law. Previously, people in a relationship could not get a protective order if they were not married or didn't live together.

The bill was introduced after the murder of a woman and her 6-year-old son by a former boyfriend last year.

___

TRANSIT

The Utah Transit Authority will gradually transform into the Transit District of Utah and in coming months a new management team will step in to take over. The massive agency overhaul comes after lawmakers demanded a fresh start for what they describe as a scandal-plagued agency.

Officials have warned the name change could cost as much as $50 million.

___

VOTING

Utah residents who will be 18 by the general election can vote in the party primary elections. Lawmakers hoped the measure would increase teenagers' participation in politics.