Sen. Dave Thomas, a South Weber Republican and a deputy Weber County attorney, has filed legislation to modify the process a county must follow to help a nonprofit entity. Workman, Salt Lake County's mayor who is now on paid leave, faces two felonies of misuse of public money for allegedly skirting the law by hiring workers to assist her daughter, then a top officer of a nonprofit organization.

Thomas, backed by the Utah Association of Counties, wants to scrap a requirement to hold a public hearing before a county can help a charity and allow counties to fund charities if residents benefit. "Hopefully that will relieve a lot of county commissioners who are worried," Thomas said.

Right now, under the same statute that Workman allegedly violated, a county must hold a public hearing before doling out taxpayer money to a nonprofit, and there is no requirement that residents see some benefit. The proposed changes would not affect the current charges against Workman, but could have made it more difficult for prosecutors to charge Workman had they been in place. The current statute came out of a Utah Supreme Court ruling on donations made by Salt Lake County commissioners that were challenged by then-County Attorney Doug Short.

"It was never the intent that if you didn't hold the public hearing you got charged with felonies," Thomas said. "The whole purpose was to allow you to take some time and make sure you're following what you're supposed to."

If Senate Bill 31 passes, it would require a county's legislative body to show that a contribution to a nonprofit in some way "contributes to the safety, health, prosperity, moral well-being, peace, order, comfort or convenience of county inhabitants."

Workman, who faces a Feb. 1 trial, denies any criminal wrongdoing and says it was a paperwork mistake. Prosecutors say she used "calculated acts" to circumvent the process of protecting taxpayer money by paying two successive bookkeepers to work for her daughter at the South Valley Boys and Girls Clubs.

Thomas' legislation - an omnibus county bill that mainly addresses land uses - also clears up the process for the removal of a public official found guilty of malfeasance. If an official is found guilty, or pleads guilty, a judge can immediately remove him or her from office without another hearing.

tburr@sltrib.com