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A month after state auditors came down on the Springdale Police Department for improperly targeting foreign tourists and possibly misplacing thousands of dollars in fines, the southern Utah tourist town has started the process of separating itself from the court and judge that triggered the audit.

But Springdale officials say years of problems with the Hurricane Justice Court and Judge Karlin Myers — not the audit — are why the relationship between the two entities has "degraded to a point of no return."

"While it may appear to those on the outside of the situation that our decision to terminate our agreement was a reaction to a recent State Audit, this is not the case," Springdale Town Manager Rick Wixom wrote in a letter to the Administrative Office of the Courts. "We have been feeling for some years that the court has lost its ability to be fair, impartial against those that bring cases to it for decisions."

Wixom wrote that Myers "appears to be biased against law enforcement in general and against the Springdale Police Department in particular."

Prior to the July 1 deadline for dissolving a justice court, Springdale officials asked the Utah Judicial Council to set aside a one-year waiting period, allowing the town to move its cases, along with Rockville's and Virgin's, to either the Washington County or Washington City justice courts. The Council on Monday denied that request, giving the Hurricane court, which would still handle cases for Hurricane and LaVerkin, a year to "ramp down" its staff as it prepares for a decreased caseload.

According to a Utah State audit released last month, Springdale police officers had been improperly targeting foreign tourists and accepting cash payments on the spot, a practice that auditors said possibly resulted in thousands of missing dollars.

"The possibility exists that officers could have written citations, collected the citation fines from defendants on the spot ... destroyed the citations, and kept the money without anyone ever detecting," state auditors wrote.

Springdale police collected $11,640 from foreign tourists in an improper manner in the first 10 months of last year, according to the audit. Additionally, the audit said the department's collection practices violated at least five state statutes and the tourists' rights under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees equal protection.

Springdale officials have said foreign tourists were always given the option of appearing before a judge, sending a fine by mail or paying at the time of the offense. Cash payments were an option because it was "extremely difficult to collect bail from foreign defendants once they returned to their respective countries," they said.

The case has been referred to the Utah Attorney General's Office for investigation, spokesman Paul Murphy said Monday.

Myers, who was appointed to the justice court in July 2005, helped trigger the audit, court officials said.

"Clerks started putting phone calls and complaints [about cash payments] together and the clerks, at the direction of the judge, emailed our office," which in turn alerted state auditors, Assistant Court Administrator Rick Schwermer said Monday.

"They did exactly what they should have done," he said.

Springdale Police Chief Kurt Wright, in his own letter, reiterated that the problems with the justice court were not a "knee-jerk reaction to our recent audit."

Wright said that his department has "no working relationship" with the justice court and said that Myers has made "several disparaging comments to our prosecuting attorney regarding his distrust of our department and questions my police officers' actions."

In one case, Wright said he spoke with a prosecutor about a plea deal for a man who had "stepped in to help his mother at a local restaurant and sold alcohol to a minor." Wright had hoped for a plea in abeyance because the man was an "upstanding citizen and good person," but said Myers gave him a maximum fine anyway.

In another case, Wright said his officers had visited some 70 times with a Springdale couple who violated town ordinances by renting their home out as a vacation house and had been cited several times. The couple claimed indigency and Myers "allowed them to make miniscule payments," Wright said.

Calls to Myers and multiple Hurricane officials went unreturned Monday. Attempts to reach Wixom and Wright were also unsuccessful.

afalk@sltrib.com A Utah State audit released last month found Springdale police illegally cited foreign tourists, made them pay cash and failed to log fines.

Among the audits findings were:

• Between January and October 2011, Springdale police officers illegally collected more than $11,600 in cash fines directly from foreign tourists — a practice the town had been practicing for years, according to a state audit released last month.

• The fines collected were deposited into a Springdale bank account by town officials who "deliberately did not forwarded the citation forms to the court as is required by law," the audit stated. Thousands of dollars were potentially missing, according to the report.

• The department's practices violated state laws and the 14th Amendment.