Cottonwood Heights seeks statute clarifications for contract prosecutors; police flag unfunded Guardian program and gaps in image‑sharing laws

Cottonwood Heights city attorneys and police urged state action on two fronts: statutory clarity for contract prosecutors and changes to criminal statutes to address gaps in image‑sharing offenses.

City staff explained the city currently contracts with Holladay for justice‑court prosecution and indigent‑defense services. After a lawsuit challenged the legality of using contract prosecutors, staff said the plaintiff later dropped the case on procedural grounds but the underlying legal question remains. Staff reported Senator Pitcher has filed a bill to allow city attorneys to deputize other attorneys—public or private—to perform prosecutorial services similar to county attorney authorities.

Police Chief Robert Hirsch told lawmakers the department supports the Guardian program concept (noting Representative Wilcox’s involvement) but has not identified a sustainable funding source. "We very much like to move forward... it's just no one's willing to pay for it," he said, urging lawmakers to consider funding models or ownership of program costs.

The chief also described a case in which non‑consensual images and dissemination occurred and said prosecutors declined to pursue charges because the statute did not clearly carve the conduct into an offense. He asked lawmakers to consider relatively narrow statutory changes to cover such conduct and provide prosecutors clearer charging authority.

City officials requested legislative action to clarify the use of contract prosecutors and to consider modest statutory edits to ensure prosecutors can pursue cases involving non‑consensual image dissemination; they said funding for new policing programs remains an unresolved implementation issue.