Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller has put a high-ranking media insider on the payroll to do what he does best: Work with the press.

Mark Biljanic, a former managing editor at KUTV Channel 2, has been named communication director for the district attorney. The switch in Miller's public-relations post comes months before the Republican's re-election bid and has spurred criticism that the D.A. is overloading her office's PR engine.

Miller insists that Biljanic's hire had nothing to do with her upcoming campaign. Instead, she said Biljanic's background in broadcast journalism will serve her office well as she seeks to replace spokeswoman Alicia Cook, a prosecutor who recently was promoted as team leader over the office's criminal procedures unit.

"I need to make sure I use my prosecutors to handle case load," Miller said. "We wanted somebody who had a strong understanding of media relations. We felt like Mark brought with him some incredible contacts and experience for making sure that the public understands what we are doing."

Yet the move has unsettled some observers who wonder whether politics had something to do with Miller's PR pick, despite her insistence otherwise. The campaign season is a month away.

Critics also ask whether the D.A. really needs the position. The office now has three people (Nate Bryan, Cook and Biljanic) doing communications work for the county's top prosecutor.

"It is a remarkable use of resources," said Salt Lake City Prosecutor Sim Gill, a Democrat who likely will emerge as Miller's political rival in 2010. "Or should I say, a remarkable waste of resources."

Not so, according to Miller. The District Attorney's Office will rely on Biljanic as its primary spokesman.

While Cook will pinch-hit during the transition, she will spend more time prosecuting. Not only did she help prosecute accused kidnapper Brian David Mitchell this month, but she has been named head of the office's criminal procedures unit. She also will assist in legislative matters once the 2010 session starts.

Bryan will serve as a backup spokesman. Miller says his attention will remain focused on grant-writing, newsletters and the office's Web site. He has been instrumental in snatching close to $1 million in grants this year.

Royce Van Tassel, spokesman for the Utah Taxpayers Association, said the public would be better served without the public-relations job -- particularly when the county is considering a property tax hike.

"When taxpayers are having to make hard decisions about what they can and can't afford, it is the height of arrogance to impose a property tax increase at the same time you are hiring people," he said.

And from Gill's perspective, the communication budget is already too big.

"You have three people who are on the taxpayers' dole serving as the PR machine of the district attorney. It is obscene," Gill said. "No office needs that kind of expense unless they are insecure or facing a political year."

Salt Lake County Council Chairman Joe Hatch, a Democrat, found no objection with Miller's decision -- as long as politics stay out of the position.

"I don't have a problem with her having a grant-writer," Hatch said. "I don't have a problem with her having a PR person."

Where he would have problem is if the D.A.'s public-relations jobs were "geared up and bundled as part of her campaign for re-election."

Miller insisted Monday she wouldn't mix PR and political roles. Biljanic is a spokesman for her office, not for her campaign.

jstettler@sltrib.com