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Senate passes fix for election-investigation conflict after debate over who appoints special counsel
Summary
The Senate approved SB 289 to require the lieutenant governor to appoint an outside special counsel when the attorney general is conflicted from investigating alleged election violations. Senators debated an amendment to substitute the chief justice for the lieutenant governor; that amendment failed and the bill passed unanimously.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Senate on March 14 passed SB 289, a bill aimed at fixing an unintended gap in state law that could leave the attorney general investigating allegations against the attorney general's own office.
Sponsor Sen. Sarah Knudson told colleagues the measure "fixes an unanticipated flaw in an existing statute governing the process for investigating alleged election and campaign violations" by giving the lieutenant governor authority to appoint someone outside the attorney general’s office when the attorney general has a conflict of interest. "This bill solves this problem by requiring a lieutenant governor to appoint…
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