SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – September 1, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) — The Salt Lake Country District Attorney’s Office today assumed the management duties of the Salt Lake City Prosecutor’s Office.
The District Attorney’s Office said in a release: “The new duties of the D.A.’s Office arise under an agreement approved last week by the Salt Lake City Council and previously approved by the Salt Lake County Council. The District Attorney’s Office thanks the mayors of Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, Mayor Ralph Becker and Mayor Ben McAdams, and the councils of both governments for their efforts and support in achieving this agreement that will benefit the communities of Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County.”
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said: “I’m excited about this significant opportunity to capitalize on the best aspects of both the D.A.’s Office and the City Prosecutor’s Office. Our collective duty to ensure the administration of justice is enhanced by this agreement.”
Previously, the D.A.’s Office and the City Prosecutor were separate offices. The agreement to manage the City Prosecutor’s Office recognizes the common ground between the two offices, Gill said.
“The City Prosecutor will still handle the tremendous volume of criminal cases in the City Justice Courts,” Gill said. “And the D.A.’s Office will continue to prosecute the juvenile and felony cases in Salt Lake County. This agreement provides several opportunities to both offices to enhance the services we provide the community.”
Moreover, Gill said: “By combining management resources of the two offices, the community will benefit from economies of scale as well as the professional opportunities presented by combining two similar but unique office environments. This also provides a unique opportunity to explore the application of therapeutic justice, community prosecution, and other treatment options with a critical, sister jurisdiction dealing with unique challenges in a highly urban environment, consistent with the Justice Reinvestment Initiative recently passed by the State Legislature and the Master Criminal Justice Plan of Salt Lake County. This will be a win-win from a fiscal perspective as well as a criminal justice and therapeutic justice perspective for the citizens of Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City.”
