It's not something someone would easily forget.

But Jesse Gallegos said Wednesday he did, and the mistake cost him a prime position in Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s administration.

"That is the irony of it; I feel like I have a good memory," said Gallegos, a member of the Board of Pardons and Parole. "But on this one I just didn't remember."

Huntsman nominated Gallegos to lead the state's Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, where he would have served as the governor's chief adviser on criminal justice planning. But before taking the post, the state Senate had to confirm Gallegos.

On June 20, he appeared before a four-member Senate panel. Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, started asking Gallegos about his law degree after receiving an unusually short résumé from the governor's office. In response, Gallegos repeatedly said under oath he never took the bar "just because I have never wanted to practice the law."

"That raised a red flag," according to Buttars because Gallegos' short bio states that he "moved into the legal arena." Gallegos said he was just a law clerk, which didn't satisfy the senator. Buttars moved to postpone the decision; the panel agreed.

The next day Gallegos, second-guessing himself, said he called the state bar to ask he if took the test. He had.

"I forgot that I took the bar exam and failed it," Gallegos said.

He graduated from the University of Utah law school in 1986, but didn't take the bar until 1993, when he was working for the Department of Corrections as a law clerk.

After meeting with the governor's office on June 21, he ended his nomination.

"The Senate needs to be engaged with people they can trust," Gallegos said. "Because of that misstatement, I thought it would be in the best interest of all if I just withdraw my name."

Buttars called Gallegos a "good guy" but questioned his assertion that he forgot the 1993 bar exam.

"I don't think that is something you can forget," he said.

Buttars believes the commission director should be a lawyer, but he said it isn't mandatory and if Gallegos had been up-front, the Senate would have most likely confirmed him.

Huntsman spokesman Mike Mower said the governor's office knew Gallegos was not a working attorney, but said his experience on the Board of Pardons and as a former deputy director of the Department of Corrections was more important.

The misstep may have stalled Gallegos career but it hasn't killed it.

"We anticipate that he will continue to serve the remainder of his term on the parole board where he has served with distinction," Mower said.

Gallegos' term ends Feb. 28, 2008, when the governor will have the option of renewing his term.

"That is an issue we have not yet reviewed," Mower said.

Tom Patterson, who has served as the director of the Utah Sentencing Commission, will step in as acting director until the governor's office can nominate someone else.

Michele Christiansen, the former executive director of the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, left to become Huntsman's general counsel, replacing Mike Lee who is now clerking for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

mcanham@sltrib.com