State election officials say Utah law does not allow convicted felons to hold office. Miller, who is trying to unseat incumbent Mayor Gerald Sherratt, admits he made a mistake when he gave 10 "cross tops" to an undercover police officer in Cedar City in 1988. The candidate said he did not think the pills were illegal, even though they carried a street name for an amphetamine.
"They were given to me by a girl who ordered them out of a magazine," Miller said Wednesday. "I was told they were cross tops and were probably just caffeine."
Miller insists he never portrayed the pills as an illegal drug or took money for them from the officer. He argues he should have only been charged with a misdemeanor.
A 5th District jury disagreed, though, and convicted Miller in May 1989 of second-degree felony distribution of a counterfeit controlled substance. After spending six months in the Iron County Jail and serving probation, Miller fulfilled his sentence in 1993.
Miller, who ran unsuccessfully for justice of the peace in the early 1980s, admits he faces long odds against Sherratt. Even if he does win in the Nov. 8 general election, the candidate would run headlong into state law. State Elections Director Michael Cragun said state law permits felons who have completed the terms of their sentence to vote, but is silent on the restoration of their right to hold office. Even the legality of a felon filing for political office in state, county or municipal elections is a murky area.
Cragun said it is up to the city recorder to decide whether to allow a convicted felon to file. For her part, City Recorder Bonnie Moritz said she was complying with her understanding of Utah's election laws when she accepted Miller's filing.
"I'm under the impression [a felon] can run, but not hold office," Moritz said. "If there's a problem, it's up to the Legislature to change the way the law is written."
Once a declaration of candidacy has been accepted, Cragun said, the only way it likely could be removed is if a protest to the filing is upheld by the recorder or a judge.
No protests over Miller's filing were lodged by the Aug. 20 deadline.
Cedar City is not the first city to wrestle with the issue. It also surfaced this year in Utah County's Eagle Mountain, where Mark Lofgren filed to run for mayor. But Lofgren, who was convicted of felony theft in 1991, was eliminated from contention in the Oct. 4 primary, thus avoiding a legal challenge to the law.
In Logan, a candidate for municipal office was not allowed to file after informing the recorder's office he was a convicted felon. Cragun is unaware of a convicted felon ever winning political office.
mhavnes@sltrib.com
