Miller is a partner with her husband, Lorenzo, in the law firm of Miller and Miller, which provides contract prosecutorial services to Salt Lake County communities, including Taylorsville, Holladay, West Jordan and Cottonwood Heights.

"Prosecutors and law enforcement need to work much more closely together to better protect the communities and the people they serve," Miller said. "And there is a real need for someone to bring that perspective to the District Attorney's Office."

Since receiving a degree from the J. Reuben Clark School of Law at Brigham Young University in 1992, Miller has worked in a number of legal positions that have focused on prosecutions and civil issues that affect local communities. For the past several years, she also has helped provide legal training to new police officers.

To better fight crime and increase the conviction rate, Miller argues, the DA's office needs to increase its cooperation with other prosecuting agencies such as city prosecutors and the Utah Attorney General's Office.

And Miller said she intends to emphasize that team approach by networking closely with law enforcement, victims and other court service providers to achieve a "district-based prosecution," which will involve designating several districts within the county and assigning a team of prosecutors from the DA's office to each district.

"It is an approach that has worked in other large communities," she said, emphasizing that greater operating efficiencies can be achieved using a district-based approach without any significant increase in the budget of the office.

Miller is the second Republican to declare for the DA's office.

In January, Deputy District Attorney Kent Morgan was the first to announce his candidacy in what is expected to be a crowded field of contenders who want to replace David Yocom, the Democratic DA who is retiring after three terms.

This will not be Miller's first campaign for the post. In 2002 she was the Republican candidate for the office, losing to Yocom by about 10,000 votes out of approximately 214,000 cast.

In addition to her legal duties, Miller also served two terms on the West Jordan Planning Commission and as chairwoman of the Salt Lake County Library Board. She has been an active member of the Utah Municipal Prosecutors Association, serving as president for two terms, and has been on the Statewide Association of Public Attorneys and Utah Prosecution Council boards.

She is the mother of four children, ages 9 to 18.