VERNAL, Utah — The Uintah County Clerk-Auditor has been the subject of a pair of investigations requested by county leaders.
But it appears the Utah Attorney General's Office will not pursue what one report recommends: removal from office for "high crimes, misdemeanors and malfeasance."
Based on reports provided to FOX 13 News under public records requests, Clerk-Auditor Mike Wilkins has been under some form of investigation since 2021. It has been prompted by complaints from Uintah Co. Commission Chair Brad Horrocks.
"You need to be accountable for it. That’s why I filed the complaint," Horrocks told FOX 13 News in an interview last month.
Initially, Wilkins was accused of financial wrongdoing. Uintah Co. Attorney Jaymon Thomas asked the Weber County Attorney's Office to conduct an investigation. The accusation centered around extra money paid into a retirement account for county employees without authorization by a county legislative body (about $3.4 million).
But Weber Co. Attorney Chris Allred wrote in the report provided to FOX 13 News that "although several issues were raised that could give the appearance of unauthorized payments, I do not believe there is sufficient evidence for me to determine that unauthorized payments have occurred or have been ordered. Rather, there seem to have been multiple breakdowns in communication among the various Uintah County offices and officials, without any clear violations of law."
Allred declined to pursue anything.
That prompted Commissioner Horrocks to file a complaint in Vernal's 8th District Court, seeking to have Wilkins removed from office. The judge handling that case forwarded Horrocks' complaint to the Uintah County Attorney.
That's when Thomas sought another probe, this time from an outside law firm. That report by Kunzler, Bean & Adamson — also provided to FOX 13 News under a public records request — was completed earlier this year. It laid out a number of issues and concluded: "We believe that the evidence indicates, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Mr. Wilkins has engaged in conduct that meets the standard of 'high crimes, misdemeanors and malfeasance in office.'"
It included allegations that Wilkins "concealed from County Commissioners voluntary payments by the County to the Utah Retirement System of nearly $3.4 million and falsely certified that such amounts had been approved by the County Commission."
"Mr. Wilkins personally benefitted from these payments in the amount of $75,987.17," the report alleged.
It also accused Wilkins of engaging "in a pattern of unprofessional and potentially harassing conduct in his role as County Clerk/Auditor," accused him of testifying "falsely under oath in a criminal proceeding involving allegations directly related to the performance of his duties as County Clerk/Auditor," and voiding checks worth more than $27,000 that should have been paid to the state's Office of Unclaimed Property.
"While some of these actions may not alone met the high standard for removal set forth in Utah Code ... we believe that the totality of Mr. Wilkins' actions meets this standard," the report concluded.
Wilkins declined to comment to FOX 13 News when approached outside an October county commission meeting. In an email responding to a request for comment, the Clerk-Auditor attached a copy of the Weber County report and noted its conclusions.
"The report from Weber County did not cost the County anything, but it did not give the past Commission the answer they wanted," Wilkins wrote. "So they hired another attorney and paid them $150,901.99 for the answer they wanted and were paying for."
"I have served this community for 36+ years and have served as the elected Clerk-Auditor since January 2003," he added.
The Uintah Co. Attorney apparently took both reports to the Utah Attorney General's Office.
"Under State law, the Uintah County Attorney’s Office is mandated to serve as legal counsel to all elected offices of the County. This presents a direct and inherit conflict for the County Attorney to serve as both counsel for the Uintah County Clerk/Auditor and potential removal counsel in a proceeding against the Uintah County Clerk/Auditor," Thomas wrote in an email to FOX 13 News seeking comment.
The Utah Attorney General's Office declined to comment on the case except to say: "The Utah Attorney General’s Office does not currently have an open case in Uintah County."
But Thomas suggested the state has opted not to pursue anything.
"At this time, we have been informed by the Utah Attorney General’s Office that they have declined to pursue this matter. Any questions as to why they have declined to pursue this matter will need to be directed to their office. As stated above, the Uintah County Attorney’s Office has a direct and inherit conflict in this matter, and that is why we reached out to the Utah Attorney General’s Office," Thomas wrote.
Horrocks said he wants to see action to remove the Clerk-Auditor from office.
"With all of them combined, the findings that they’ve found... the suggestion is removal from office," he said.
Read the Weber Co. report here:
Read the Kunzler, Bean & Adamson report for Uintah Co. here:
