This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Posted: 1:20 PM- Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff revoked the "special assistant attorney general" status of two attorneys at the Utah State Office of Education today.
He also told Carol Lear and Jean Hill to refrain from giving legal advice to the Utah Board of Education, the State Schools Superintendent or any employees of the Utah State Office of Education.
Lear and Hill are the two state education office attorneys who've been advising the state school board about the legal minefield surrounding Utah's school voucher statute.
"Any legal conversations with those individuals are not protected by the attorney-client privilege," the AG's letter said.
The state school board, which is holding its June meeting today, stopped what it was doing and went into closed executive session after receiving the letter. It discussed the matter for more than an hour before announcing it would continue to use Lear and Hill as legal counsel and would seek further discussion with the AG.
Because it concerns personnel matters and falls under attorney-client privilege with the AG's office, the board has not released the letter and declined to comment further. But the letters were posted on SLCspin.com, a local blog.
Utah code designates Shurtleff as the board's legal representative. He granted "special assistant attorney general" status to Lear and Hill on May 11 after some board members expressed concern about who might represent them if the board were sued.
The board ignored Shurtleff's advice during a special meeting May 29 and voted to issue an order saying it couldn't and shouldn't implement a voucher system until a court sorts out legal concerns. That vote led Shurtleff to say he could no longer defend the board's actions. It also appears to have triggered today's letter.
"I appointed you as a Special Assistant Attorney General with the specific charge that you 'act on behalf of the Attorney General's Office.'" the posted letter read. "Recent events have demonstrated that you have failed to carry out that charge.
"Rather, you have fostered an adversarial and hostile relationship between the State Board of Education and this office by giving advice contrary and inconsistent with advice given by me and others in the Attorney General's Office," the letter added.