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Show PAGE 2 THE ZEPHYR JULY 1990 licensed active as required by Member 20-7-- 5.1 in good standing of the Utah State Bar until after his reinstatement on April 27, 1990. page two Under the circumstances that one of interpretation of S is question X have set forth, the This law now 20-7-- 5.1. provides as follows i Nhen there is only one candidate for county attorney at the general election in counties that have three or fewer electors of the county who are licensed active members in good standing of the Utah State Bar, the County Clerk shall cause that counties name and party affiliation, if any, to be placed on a separate section of the ballot with the following question! "shall (name of candidate) be elected to the office of county . No attorney? Yes The question of interpretation ist at what point in time does one count the attorney electors in a given county for nurnoiei of the above cited section? Jim Stiles appears that the most logical and appropriate tine number of lawyers is the date on which the number of candidates is fixed. That date is the last date on which candidates may file for the office of county attorney which in 1990 was April 16. On that date William L. Schults was not a member in good standing of the Utah State Bar and he may therefore not be counted toward the four electors necessary to subsection. take the election out of the above-cite- d It For the last two months, Ive devoted at least part of this column to the County Attorney Election law dealing with camfldates running unopposed for election. Without rehashing an old story, It appeared at first as though Incumbent County Attorney Elaine Coates would have to run as a yeano candklate; that Is, she must receive more "yes votes than "no votes If she was to be elected for a second term. But the law only applied to counties with three active, licensed attorneys or fewer. Although only two attorneys were actually eligible to run for office during the filing period, County Clerk Fran Townsend Interpreted the law differently. Fran believed that since four attorneys currently resided and worked In Grand County, the yeano option dkl not apply here. EllgfoJIlty was Irrelevant I ran up an enormous phone Mil on calls to the Attorney Generals Office and the lieutenant Governors Office, trying to extract a little logic out of all the chaos and confusion. I spoke to Van Dam twice, and after reviewing the wording of the law, he seemed to concur with Townsend. It made no sense. Suppose Mr. Schultz decided to leave Moab next month - we would then have only three attorneys and the yeano provision would apply. But suppose rs three weeks later, another attorney came to town and hung his ah Inale. It could be a for determining the Accordingly, it is my opinion that if, in fact, there were only three other attorneys in Grand County who were "licensed active members in good standing with the Utah State Bar" on April 16, 1990, then the "retention election" provisions should be followed in preparing the general of S election ballot. Of course, the determination of how many attorneys resided in Grand County on April 16, 1990, qualified should be made by the county clerk. If we can be of any further help in this natter please do not hesitate to contact me. 20-7-- 5.1 Very truly yours, ballot-make- nightmare. There had to be a fixed cut-o- ff date and the logical date to use was the filing deadline. On June 23, received from the State Attorney General, a copy of a letter to Deputy Lieutenant Governor David Hansen from John F. Clark, Counsel to the Attorney General. The opinion, once and fbr ad, determines that the filing deadffne to the cut-o- ff date for determining the number of attorneys In a county, and whether they are "active, licensed., and In good standing with the Utah State Bar. The unedted letter Is printed here: Counsel to Attorney General R. Paul Van Dam 1 OthK't. Ot 7HK ATnWSM UMCKRAI. R. PAl'I. VAN l)AM lie BlAII lANIlM MllliU llll.l'IAIIMIM - Fran Townsend has stated that Grand County has four attorneys: Wm. Schultz, Wm. Benge, Elaine Coates and Sandra Stariey. The Attorney General has concluded that Mr. Schultz cannot be considered with regard to this law because of his suspension. Therefore, It would seem that there should be no further obstacles In placing the yeano retention election provision on the Grand County Ballot But two months ago, I never dreamed there would be any obstacles at alL I hope that Grand County citizens wtU contact their commissioners and the county dark and let them know how ygufoeL All were asking Is that the voters be glvon a choice. AiHsMitiisiie lllinillKI MUBHII t Tttt ll SlMMIUMN PH I Mil Utfolt SlATkltt ITAII J PC i ami June 4, 1990 David D. Hansen Deputy Lieutenant Governor 203 Salt State Capitol Bldg. UT Lake City, 84114 REi Ballot treatment for the Attorney 1990 Election of the Grand County Dear Davei You have talked to both Paul Van Dam and X about a has arisen involving the ballot treatment for the which question Grand of County Attorney in the 1990 general election. position The question relates to the meaning and application of the amendments to the laws governing county, attorney election procedures applicable in counties with three or fewer licensed attorneys which amendments were enacted by House Bill 309 in the 1990 general session. In connection with your inquiry you have sent to me a copy of an anonymous letter from a resident of Koab, Grand County, dated Nay 22, 1990, which addresses the question of whether or not Grand County qualifies this year for a "retention election" as provided in the newly amended statute, and a draft of a letter you propose to send to Grand County Clerk Fran Townsend regarding this issue. In considering these questions it is important to understand that House Bill 309 waa pasaad by a majority in both houses and therefore became effective March 8, 1990 which waa the date it waa signed by the Governor. Accordingly, the questions you pose are governed by the new law enacted by House Bill 309 and not be prior law aa assumed by the writer of the anonymous letter. two-thir- ds Under the new law, agree with your draft letter to the Grand County Clerk regarding the ballot treatment of an unopposed candidate for county attorney in a county where more than three attorney-electo- rs reaidu. However, your letter may not apply to the situation that exista in Grand County. If the writer of the anonymous letter la correct in the assertion that during the period March IS, 1990 through April 16, 1990, there were four attorneys resident in Grand County and that one of those attorneys was William L. Schults, it appears that only three of these attorneys could be counted for purposes of UCA S which was enacted by HB 309. X 20-7-- I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society hut the people themselves; if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise ther control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion. Thomas Jefferson THE CANYON COUNTRY ZEPHYR P.O.BOX 327 MOAB, UTAH 84532 3 (801) JIM STILES, PUBLISHER 259-777- Trish West production manager contributing writers B J. Eardley, Lance Christie, Jeff Connors, Raquel Shumway Jack Campbell Ktn Davey, 1990 The Canyon Country Zephyr all rights reserved 5.1 William L. Schults, Utah State Bar 11626, was suspended the private practice of law on January 12, 1990, for a period of 90 days. Mr. Schults did not timely reapply for reinstatement and for that reason was not reinstated until April from 27, 1990. In the opinion of this office, Mr. Schults was not a llie Canyon Country Zephyr is a monthly newspaper, eleven times a year at Moab, Utah. The opinions expressed herein are notpublished those of its vennecessarily dors, advertisers, or even at times of its publishers. |