Former Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes’ office lacked sufficient transparency, the attorney general‘s direct involvement in the office was minimal and there were concerns about potential conflicts of interests with nonprofit organizations, according to an audit released Friday afternoon. Those are some of the major findings from two separate audit reports totaling 146 pages of evaluation.
The Office of the Legislative Auditor General was asked to perform the audit of the Office of the Attorney General and the attorney general position under Reyes’ leadership.
The audit produced the following key findings:
- The Attorney General’s Office lacked sufficient transparency, making it challenging for the public to ensure accountability.
- The attorney general’s direct involvement in various divisions of the office appeared to be minimal.
- There were concerns about a potential conflicts of interest due to the limited transparency regarding the AG’s connections with nonprofit organizations.
- The legislature should now evaluate whether it wants to establish a more straightforward role for the attorney general.
Reyes announced in December 2023 that he would not seek reelection in 2024. He began serving as Utah’s AG in 2013.
Alan Crooks, a spokesman for Reyes, said the audit “affirmed that there was no misuse of taxpayer funds by the AG and no favoritism shown to any businesses or individuals in cases brought or declined by the AGO.”
He added that while Reyes was in office, he “welcomed” all types of audits; in this case, “the OLAG had access to millions of documents and other types of data including accounting, financial, travel, emails, texts, calendars, personal interviews, and more. The only information that was withheld was private or protected.”
“The Office of Legislative Auditor General’s reviewed specific metrics for success with suggestions for Attorney General Brown. We hope that the many successful programs, protocols, and policies that were carefully implemented over the past 11 years and have led to many wins in court, safer streets, more liberties and better quality of life for Utahns remain intact,” Crooks said.
Utah’s new Attorney General Derek Brown also responded to the audit Friday.
“I appreciate the hard work and the thoughtful recommendations that the auditors have made, and look forward to using their work to guide us as we strengthen and improve the office,” Brown said in a statement.
The audit request was prompted by inquiries regarding the AGO’s efficiency and effectiveness and Reyes’ extent of involvement with the nonprofit Operation Underground Railroad, an anti-sex trafficking organization.
The role of a state attorney general is to preside as the chief law enforcement officer over Utah, governing, advising, and representing the rule of law. One of the position’s responsibilities is overseeing the state’s nonprofit organizations.
Common law allows the attorney general to govern with broad discretion. Because of this, “there is a lack of well-defined limitations on outside activities, such as nonprofit involvement, that the AG may pursue,” the position report said.
Consequently, the auditor general found potential conflicts of interest to be a cause for concern that merits legislative attention.
Conflict of interests regarding nonprofits
The audit letter requested a specific investigation into Reyes’ involvement with Operation Underground Railroad, a nonprofit organization that experienced legal troubles under its former CEO and founder, Tim Ballard, according to the audit report. Ballard stepped down from the leadership position and left the nonprofit in 2023 following misconduct allegations.
The audit found no evidence proving state funds were used in relation to Reyes’ relationship with OUR. The auditors said it attempted to obtain as much information as possible, “a lack of transparency” from the former AG’s office prevented the potential risks from being “adequately assessed.”
“Evidence suggests that the AG maintained significant involvement with OUR and leveraged his position to promote the organization,” per the report, noting the following evidence was withheld:
- Meetings Reyes had with OUR’s board of governors.
- Events that include Reyes and Ballard in what appear to be speaking roles and fundraisers for OUR.
- Meetings with the Reyes and OUR staff to review OUR operations.
As attorney general, Reyes was responsible for ensuring the legitimacy of nonprofits across the state. The audit report expressed concern that while serving as AG, Reyes served on OUR’s advisory board from 2015 to 2020, and between 2017 and 2024, the AGO’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit received $950,000 in grant money from OUR.
According to the report, the grant said, “The Utah Attorney General’s Office is the recipient of a United States Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention grant to enforce laws regarding internet crimes against children,” but the nonprofit apparently donated the money.
“One affiliate reported that they were reporting to the AGO on the use of what they believed were federal grants. However, the AGO was reporting back to OUR on the use of the donations,” per the audit report. “This appears to further complicate the intended purpose of the donations.”
The Audit General’s office also cited a potential conflict of interest regarding Reyes’ personal nonprofit, Liberate All Value All, known as LAVA.
The report said Reyes appeared to use his role as attorney general to promote his nonprofit, which he said he supported with his past venture fund connections.
Reyes “encouraged donors to provide charitable funds to LAVA and appears to indicate that he could determine what organizations were worthy of these donations,” per the report. “It appears that LAVA acted as an intermediary between donors and other nonprofits.”
The nonprofit started in 2016 and dissolved in 2024.
Utah Code 67-16-4 states that a public officer is barred from entering “other employment that he might expect would impair his independence of judgment in the performance of his public duties; or accept other employment that he might expect would interfere with the ethical performance of his public duties.”
The report acknowledged that Reyes did not appear “employed” or “compensated” by either nonprofit, but his apparent admiration and support for them could be viewed as a conflict of interest while in the office of the attorney general.
Recommendations
In a culture survey administered by the audit team, the attorney general’s office reported having a more positive work culture than other state entities surveyed. More than 80% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that their organization maintained a positive culture. However, “the Legislature recently approved a substantial salary increase for attorneys at the AGO, per the office audit report. “The AGO’s executive leadership reports that it believes this has played a significant role in its positive culture.”
Concerning this point, Crooks said that “while the AGO has always had talented and dedicated employees, they were underpaid, underresourced and underappreciated. The office that was transitioned to AG Brown this past month is one that competes with private law firms in bringing the highest quality legal representation to the state.”
As the legal representation for state agencies and officers, The Office of the Legislative Auditor General recommended the following to improve the integrity of AGO:
- The AG office should create and implement a strategic plan with clear objectives and a system to track progress.
- The office should establish performance metrics to measure progress toward its goals.
- A performance manager should be appointed to help leadership develop and analyze performance measures.
The audit report recommended that both current and future attorneys general establish best practices for internal governance and transparency to enhance management and suggested that the Legislature “determine if additional ethical and transparency requirements should be placed on the position of attorney general.”
“I am grateful for the legislative auditor’s work,” Brown said. “Integrity and transparency guide everything that we do in my office, and I am committed to ensuring that the Office of the Utah Attorney General is the state’s premiere law firm.
“Since taking office earlier this month, I have kept my campaign promises by releasing my my calendar to the public, meeting with legislators, doing interviews with the press, establishing an Executive Ethics Committee, meeting with our client agencies, and getting to know so many of the dedicated attorneys and staff members in the office.”