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Sean D. Reyes
Utah Office of the Attorney General
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History

History of the Utah Attorney General’s Office

The Office of Utah Attorney General was set up in 1850 when Utah was still a territory. The duties of the Attorney General were to keep his office at the seat of government, to attend to all legal business on the part of the Territory, before the courts, where the Territory is a party, and prosecute individuals accused of crimes in the judicial district which he keeps his office.

The territorial office of Attorney General lasted for 22 years. In 1874, Congress passed the Poland Law, which abolished the jurisdiction of the Utah Territory’s “probate court” system and the territorial offices of the Attorney General and Marshall.

In 1895 the people of Utah again created the Office of Attorney General, this time in the Constitution of Utah. Under the Utah Constitution, the duties of the Attorney General were to be the sole legal adviser of the State officers, except as otherwise provided by this constitution, and shall perform such other duties as provided by law.

Individual states, territories, and Washington D.C. each have their own Attorneys General and they are not to be confused with the U.S. Attorney General who is Head of the Department of Justice, and a member of the Presidential cabinet. Most state Attorney Generals are independently elected by a vote of the people while the U.S. Attorney General is nominated by the President and is subject to approval by the U.S. Senate.

Since the admission of Utah as a state on January 4, 1896 the Attorney General has been an independently elected constitutional officer of the executive department and serves four-year terms. This official must be at least 25 years old at the time of their election, be admitted to practice before the State Supreme Court, and a member of the Utah State Bar in good faith.

  • A. C. Bishop: 01/04/1896 – 01/07/1901
  • M. R. Breeden: 01/07/1901 – 01/04/1909
  • A. R. Barns: 01/04/1909 – 01/01/1917
  • Dan B. Shields: 01/01/1917 – 01/03/1921
  • Harvey H. Cluff: 01/03/1921 – 01/07/1929
  • George P. Parker: 01/07/1929 – 01/03/1933
  • Joseph Chez: 01/03/1933 – 01/06/1941
  • Grover A. Giles: 01/06/1941 – 01/03/1949
  • Clinton D. Vernon: 01/03/1949 – 01/05/1953
  • E.R. Callister, Jr.: 01/05/1953 – 06/04/1959
  • Walter L. Budge: 06/05/1959 – 12/10/1961
  • A. Pratt Kessler: 12/18/1961 – 01/04/1965
  • Phil L. Hansen: 01/04/1965 – 01/06/1969
  • Vernon B. Romney: 01/06/1969 – 01/02/1977
  • Robert B. Hansen: 01/02/1977 – 01/05/1981
  • David L. Wilkinson: 01/05/1981 – 01/02/1989
  • R. Paul Van Dam: 01/02/1989 – 01/06/1993
  • Jan Graham: 01/06/1993 – 01/03/2001
  • Mark Shurtleff: 01/03/2001 – 01/07/2013
  • John Swallow: 01/07/2013 – 12/30/2013
  • Sean Reyes: 12/30/2013 – 01/06/2024