Rawlings said he and DeCaria will meet with Salt Lake County Prosecutor Sam Gill on Tuesday to discuss actions which may be taken against Mark Walker, who allegedly offered to let Richard Ellis, his opponent in the state race, keep his job with a pay raise.
Walker has denied any wrongdoing, saying that he only told state employees they would keep their jobs if he were elected.
But following the June 24 Republican primary, Ellis filed an elections complaint. Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert handed the complaint to Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who asked Rawlings, a Republican, and DeCaria, a Democrat to investigate the allegations.
On Friday, Rawlings released a statement saying their completed investigation showed none of the activities in the State Treasurer’s race rose to the felony level.
“Under the law and given the situation, there are arguably two charges that could be applied,” Rawlings said, and under state statute they must be applied as the lowest level of charge — a class B misdemeanor.
Because of that, and because the matter should return to its original jurisdiction, that is Salt Lake County, the case is now in the hands of Salt Lake County prosecutors. “Sam (Gill) is the appropriate prosecutor for the case,” Rawlings said.
mwilliams@davisclipper.com
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