Although Jurrius had threatened to resign on a number of occasions if the newly elected Business Committee members did not cooperate with him, he has tendered no written resignation.

However, Business Committee Chairman Curtis Cesspooch said the council, meeting in eastern Utah's Fort Duchesne, accepted his verbal resignation last month after Jurrius said he would resign.

"We're going to be looking for a new financial advisr," Cesspooch said this week.

He noted, however, that Jurrius is still connected to Ute Energy, the recently created corporation charged with developing the tribe's oil and natural gas holdings. Cesspooch said Jurrius' future relationship to the energy company is not clear.

Since the vote, Jurrius has not been at his offices at the tribe's headquarters in Fort Duchesne. Interview requests through his staff have been unanswered.

"He did not resign," said tribal member Gloria Thompson. "He said he would resign if the Business Committee wouldn't work with him. But people like what John Jurrius is doing for us. That's why people are up in arms."

In January, the tribe overwhelmingly approved a referendum vote that included extending Jurrius' contract by two years. The referendum result is akin to tribal law.

The Texas native has served as the tribe's financial adviser since January 2001. Among other things, he wrested $190 million in water-settlement money from the federal government. The money had been held in a private trust for the tribe. In addition, he boosted the tribe's membership fund by more than $75 million.

In March, however, tribal voters elected three new members to the six-member Business Committee. All three ran on platforms seeking an independent audit of Ute finances.

"The reason we were elected to the council is that we weren't getting enough information on all the deals going on," Cesspooch said.

The chairman said he isn't against Jurrius' financial plan, but wants more openness on tribal financial dealings. That is now happening he said. An audit is under way.

Although the Business Committee could not dismiss Jurrius after the referendum, he was free to resign, Cesspooch said.

But Thompson and a group calling itself the Ute Coalition want to see Jurrius remain.

Among them is Dorophea Garcia, who said the group will press the Business Committee to keep Jurrius because, she said, that is demanded by the tribal Constitution. "It was the people who put him in as financial adviser," she said. "And we want to be heard."

csmart@sltrib.com