County attorney seeks guidance as commission moves to establish criminal-justice coordinating council

Ben Benoit of the Utah County Attorney's Office presented a draft ordinance the commission must adopt to satisfy a state requirement to establish a Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, citing the statute number included verbatim in the draft.

Benoit said the statute (noted in the draft as 7.13.0.03) lists categories of representatives—police chiefs, district and justice court judges, a victim advocate, behavioral-health representation and others—without prescribing how those representatives are selected. He recommended that the county ask each represented group to self-select a representative and then present that nominee for commission approval, a process consistent with other board appointment practices.

Commissioners discussed alternatives. Some favored letting organizations name their own representatives rather than the commission making direct appointments; others wanted a clarifying phrase that the council shall include at least a named representative in each category to preserve flexibility (for example, allowing multiple judges if more than one volunteer).

Commissioners also asked Benoit to include language governing multicounty councils (permitted by the statute) that would let Utah County invite neighboring counties to join by resolution but preserve Utah County's leadership role; Benoit said the ordinance can allow the council itself to adopt bylaws on representation in multicounty scenarios while leaving the commission authority to set initial terms. He advised the commission the county must establish the council before the end of the year to meet the state deadline.

Benoit said the office will rework the draft and work individually with commissioners to finalize the ordinance before it returns to the board for formal adoption.

Quote: "The state law requires we establish this criminal justice coordinating council," Benoit said, noting he had provided a proposed ordinance to commissioners in advance.

Next steps: staff will revise the ordinance language to reflect the commission's guidance and bring a final draft back for adoption before year-end.