Last month, Sidwell informed the Attorney General's Office he was removing himself from the prosecution of dozens who were swept up in an investigation surrounding the 2006 Daggett County sheriff's election.
Several defendants had claimed "prosecutorial misconduct" in filings with Manila's 8th District Court.
County Commissioner Stewart Leith said he voted to keep Sidwell in his four-year contract, which was negotiated just last year.
"I wasn't in favor of getting rid of him," Leith said Wednesday. "He did a fantastic job."
But Commissioner Hank Gutz cited a litany of areas where he said Sidwell fell short of expectations.
According to Sidwell's contract, either party can dissolve the agreement for any reason with six-months notice, and Sidwell will continue his employment through the end of the year.
Gutz said he voted to terminate because the county attorney has a poor relationship with many in the tiny county of 900 tucked between the north slope of the Uinta Mountains and the Wyoming state line. According to Gutz, Sidwell had bullied some who got caught up in the attorney general's dragnet surrounding the voter-registration case.
"You do not take a 70-year-old lady and threaten her and badger her and belittle her," Gutz said referring to a woman he did not identify who is connected to the fraud case.
Further, Gutz said that Sidwell had alienated some state officials and agencies, including the Utah Department of Corrections, which houses inmates at the Daggett County jail and is an important revenue source for the county.
Sidwell could not be reached Wednesday for comment.
The voter-fraud case is the outgrowth of complaints filed by former Daggett County Sheriff Allen Campbell who lost his re-election bid in 2006 by 20 votes to Rick Ellsworth. Campbell had alerted state officials that the voter rolls in the small county appeared to be growing at an unrealistic rate.
Charges were filed against 51 individuals who registered to vote in Daggett County but listed their home addresses elsewhere on tax returns and driver licenses.
Thus far, three have pleaded guilty to voter registration fraud, a class A misdemeanor; six have entered guilty pleas in abeyance; and nine have pleaded not guilty.
Arraignments for the remaining 33 are scheduled for July 11 and Aug. 8 in Manila.
csmart@sltrib.com
* Former Daggett County Sheriff Allen Campbell, who lost his re-election bid in 2006 by 20 votes to Rick Ellsworth, had alerted state officials that the voter rolls in the small county appeared to be growing at an unrealistic rate.
* Charges were filed against 51 individuals who registered to vote in Daggett County but listed their home addresses elsewhere on tax returns and driver licenses.
* Thus far, three have pleaded guilty to voter registration fraud, a class A misdemeanor; six have entered guilty pleas in abeyance; nine have pleaded not guilty.
* Arraignments for the remaining 33 are scheduled for July 11 and Aug. 8 in Manila.
