Utah Policy: Constitutional Defense Council Declines to Use Public Money to Pay Legal Fees for Embattled County Commissioner

Lyman supporters – including GOP Gov. Gary Herbert – will insted donate private money to Lyman personally for his appeal and his trial costs

Following up on our earlier post on the topic, the Utah webosphere is ablaze with the good news that Utah taxpayers are "off the hook" for San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman's legal bills. Here's the encouraging lead from this morning's Utah Policy story:

Who says a public outcry can’t make a difference?
Or the threat of lawsuits?
Or an upcoming election?
After a closed meeting Wednesday, the state’s Constitutional Defense Council and the Utah Association of Counties came to an understanding:
The state WILL NOT spend $100,000 of CDC money to defend San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman, should he decide to appeal his recent conviction in federal court for leading an ATV ride on a dirt road closed to such activity by the Bureau of Land Management.

Read the full story, folks:

• Constitutional Defense Council Declines to Use Public Money to Pay Legal Fees for Embattled County Commissioner

Here's the interesting upshot, WCF readers:

Instead, any number of Lyman supporters – including GOP Gov. Gary Herbert – will donate private money to Lyman personally for his appeal and his trial costs.Herbert, who seeks re-election in 2016, will donate $10,000 to Lyman, said Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, who chairs the CDC.
The $10,000 check will be written from Herbert’s political action committee, not personal funds, gubernatorial aides told UtahPolicy.

Added bonus: Utah Policy provides this interesting glimpse into one of our own Weber County Commsioner's stance on the use of taxpayer funds in support of scofflaw Phil Lyman's post-conviction defense:

Former GOP legislator, current president of the Utah Association of Counties, Kerry Gibson, a Weber County commissioner, told UtahPolicy that he had the votes on the CDC to provide UAC with the $100,000 requested to defend Lyman.
But after the closed session – in which Assistant Attorney General Tony Rampton briefed council members about the legal implications of the state getting involved in an individual’s criminal conviction appeal – Gibson and his fellow UAC members present decided to withdraw their official request for the $100,000.
So the CDC, their membership here, never took a vote, [Emphasis added]..

Write it down, so you don'r forget it, Weber County voters.

The rest of the Utah online media is all over this story, too:

• Utah taxpayers off the hook, Gov. Herbert first to sign up for Lyman’s legal defense fund - Salt Lake Tribune
• Utah won't put up money to defend commissioner's illegal ATV ride - Deseret News
• Taxpayers won’t pay for appeal of commissioner’s protest ride, but politicians kick in cash - Fox 13
• Supporters step in as state bows out of commissioner's legal fight against feds - ABC4
• Commissioner Won't Get Taxpayer Money for Criminal Defense - KUER

A Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat to Alliance for a Better Utah, whose "threatened" lawsuit seems to have made all the difference.

That's right.  Even in Utah, "Sometimes the good guy wins. Now that's a Better Utah!" 

Standard-Examiner Editorial: Our View: Taxpayer-funded ATV Defense (Insulting)

Utah: "the most fiscally responsible state" (except when it's not)

Click to enlarge image

In the inerest of kickstarting some possible Weber County Forum discussion, we'll shine the spotlight on this morning's strong editorial from the Standard-Examiner.

Here's the lede:

The Utah Commission for the Stewardship of Public Lands made a big mistake when it supported using taxpayers’ money to assist the legal defense of San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman, who was convicted last year of a misdemeanor when he drove an ATV in Southern Utah’s Recapture Canyon, which is federally protected. The commission wants a legal analysis of the case.
However, the commission’s Republicans, which include Plain City State Sen. Scott Jenkins, are angling to have Utah’s Constitutional Defense Council spend as much as $100,000 to defend Lyman, who faces sentencing later this summer. The council, which will meet later this year, decides money to be allocated for states’ rights tussles with the feds.The 6-2 party-line vote by the commission is an insult to Utah taxpayers, who should not be given the legal tab for a county commissioner’s instance of political activism. If lawmakers want to pay the court bills of Commissioner Lyman, pass the hat among legislators, or pursue assistance from an interest group that sympathizes with Lyman.

Check out the full editorial, Peeps:

• Our View: Taxpayer-funded ATV defense

Remember, folks, Mr. Lyman has already been convicted at trial by a jury of his peers; so whatever taxpayer money that is wasted on this fool's errand will be devoted to a possible appeal:

• Jury: San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman guilty of conspiracy for ATV protest ride

The Standard deftly "nails it," in this "thumbnail" summary:

We respect that Utah lawmakers have an interest in states rights and any potential conflicts with the federal government. But that should not extend to paying the tab for law-breakers, which Lyman is. A Democratic member of the commission, State Sen. Jim Dabakis, Salt Lake City, has it right when he said, “He (Lyman) made the decision to have a public protest. Now he has to face the music.”

This is an editorial board "firing on all cylinders," wethink.

Utah: "the most fiscally responsible state" (except when it's not.)