Shurtleff revoked the "special assistant attorney general" status of two attorneys at the Utah Office of Education, saying they "have fostered an adversarial and hostile relationship" between the Attorney General's Office and the state school board.

Carol Lear and Jean Hill are the two state education office attorneys who have been leading the board through the legal minefield surrounding Utah's school voucher statute. They were granted the special status in May to allow them to represent the board if it was sued over the school voucher imbroglio. But their advice has often contradicted that of the Attorney General's Office, which prompted Thursday's revocation.

"You are not to give legal advice or representation to [State Schools] Superintendent [Patti] Harrington, employees of the Utah State Office of Education or any members of the Utah Board of Education," the letters read. "Any legal conversations with those individuals are not protected by the attorney-client privilege."

The state school board, which was holding its June meeting Thursday, went into closed executive session after receiving the letters. The board discussed the matter for more than an hour before announcing it would continue to use Lear and Hill as legal counsel and seek further discussions with the Attorney General.

Because the letters concern personnel issues, the board acknowledged their receipt but did not release them and declined comment. Hill said she doesn't fear for her job and isn't sure the Attorney General can deem her counsel immune from attorney-client privilege.

"The A.G. can't fire us - we're hired by the board and only the board can fire us," she said. "Hopefully we can work through this with the A.G.'s Office because we all still have to work together."

Chief Deputy Attorney General Ray Hintze acknowledged the Attorney General's Office has no authority to fire Lear and Hill. He said the letters terminate their status as proxy employees and resumes the positions they formerly held with the state board, which never included attorney-client privilege.

"They're there to discuss school law and policies," Shurtleff clarified, "not to give legal advice and not to represent them."

He said he's frustrated that the board seems to want the Attorney General's representation until it doesn't like the advice.

He said the letters were triggered by a legal filing with the Utah Supreme Court in which Hill and Lear were listed as attorneys for voucher opponents - including the group behind the referendum drive, 10 members of the state school board and seven legislators. The filing reiterates the state school board's emergency order saying it won't offer vouchers until legal issues are settled, which contradicts opinions and advice from the Attorney General's Office.

"It created a huge conflict of interest," said Hintze. "We had no idea these two were going to appear this way."

Shurtleff said Thursday's letters in no way sever his office's relationship with the state school board. He just wanted to clarify the role of Hill and Lear in today's Supreme Court proceedings.

"This to me is not a fight," he said. "I was trying to work with them, but it just got to be unworkable."

His letters explain why.

"I appointed you as a Special Assistant Attorney General with the specific charge that you 'act on behalf of the Attorney General's Office,' " a 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," it said.