The Utah Attorney General’s Office will not take any action on a formal complaint against Grand County Council chairman Lynn Jackson, based on its findings that the allegations against him lack a “reasonable likelihood of conviction.”
Gregory N. Ferbrache, director of the office’s justice division, informed Grand County Attorney Andrew Fitzgerald last month that two supervising prosecutors agreed “independently and collaboratively” with those findings.
Chris Baird, a former Grand County Council member who is running for a seat on the council, initially alleged that Jackson violated county bylaws — as well as state administrative and criminal code — during a public meeting in April.
But Jackson insisted that he did nothing wrong, and he alleged that Baird’s claims regarding his actions at the Canyonlands Health Care Special Service District (CHCSSD) board’s April 24 meeting were politically motivated.
Baird initially submitted his complaint to Fitzgerald, Grand County Sheriff Steve White and Moab City Police Chief Mike Navarre. But Fitzgerald subsequently forwarded the complaint on to the attorney general’s office in order to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.
An assigned special agent with the attorney general’s office conducted an independent investigation into Baird’s allegations, and he later presented his findings to the AG’s Justice Division.
Ferbrache did not elaborate on those findings in a Sept. 24 letter to Fitzgerald.
But based on the outcome of the investigation, Jackson said he hopes that everyone will move on.
“I’m glad this chapter’s over,” he said Oct. 1.
He may be glad, but he said he’s not surprised by the AG’s determination.
“I would say I was relieved, but I knew there was nothing to (Baird’s complaint) when it was filed,” Jackson said.
Baird said he’s conducted additional research since he submitted his complaint, and based on that work, he doesn’t believe that there was any intent to harm in this case.
“I’m not going to say there was no wrongdoing,” he said Oct. 1. “There was definitely wrongdoing, but it was more on the policy side.”
Please see next week’s edition of the Moab Sun News for a full version of this developing story.
