Utah Attorney General Derek Brown talks to reporters during his first press conference at the Utah State Capitol Building on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Kyle Dunphey/Utah News Dispatch)
Utah’s newest Attorney General Derek Brown is still getting his bearings, sifting through various recommendations, evaluating ongoing lawsuits and meeting with the roughly 280 attorneys who work in the office.
He couldn’t say whether the state would abandon any of its ongoing litigation or investigations, and is still reviewing a number of changes recommended by different committees helping with the transition.
But Brown appears set on mending the reputation of the Utah Attorney General’s Office. During his first press conference since being sworn in, Brown told reporters he wants to “make the office a welcoming place.”
“Part of that, though, is making sure that people know what we’re doing and they understand the role of the office and what’s taking place in the office. So I’m going to implement a number of transparency measures that I think will help the public know what we’re doing,” Brown said on Thursday. “I think trust is an inevitable outgrowth of understanding that.”
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Brown, a former state lawmaker, U.S. Senate staffer and Utah Republican Party chairman, is assuming an office marred by controversy and criticized for a lack of transparency. Mark Shurtleff, who served from 2001 to 2013, was charged with bribery and accepting gifts, but those charges were later dropped. John Swallow, who served in 2013, was accused of extorting money and favors from a wealthy businessman who had reached a plea deal with the office, and was acquitted at trial. Sean Reyes, who took over in 2013, announced he would not seek reelection in 2023 amid scandal stemming from his ties with embattled anti-trafficking activist Tim Ballard.
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Now, fresh off his inauguration, Brown announced a few changes aimed at restoring trust.
He’ll be stepping down from various nonprofits he’s involved in, and his family will put their assets in a blind trust, which separates individuals from financial knowledge of their assets, in hopes that it helps “people to have confidence in the office.”
He vowed to continue the state’s litigation against social media companies, but told reporters that he set up a conflict wall with anything regarding Meta, which he previously lobbied for. That means he’ll defer to other attorneys in the office for anything related to the social media giant.
The office will implement an ethics subcommittee to help handle any ethical questions that arise. “The best approach is to think of these things in advance, make sure we don’t have the problems, and address them beforehand,” he said.
He’s implementing recommendations from various transition committees he put together after the election, which consist of about 40 subject matter experts, ranging from criminal law, civil law, ethics or culture.
And his office will release his weekly calendar, something that Reyes refused to do.
Public lands litigation, immigration and the death penalty
As the state’s top attorney, Brown will inherit a number of lawsuits, including some high profile cases challenging the federal government. It’s too soon to tell whether he’ll abandon anything.
“My job right now is to be briefed on everything that’s going on,” Brown said Thursday.
12 states get behind Utah’s lawsuit to take over millions of acres of federally-controlled land
However, he is fully on board with the state’s social media litigation, which includes lawsuits against TikTok and Meta. And he supports the ambitious lawsuit filed over the summer, which questions whether the federal government can hold on to 18.5 million acres of unappropriated (meaning it lacks a formal designation) public land in the state. The state is petitioning directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, and if it’s ultimately successful, it could trigger a massive land transfer.
“My hope is the court decides to hear the case. I think it’s an important issue,” Brown said. “There are seminal issues in our state’s history that I think it’s important and appropriate for a court to make a decision on.”
Brown is also taking office as the incoming Trump administration plans to ramp up deportations of undocumented migrants, and to possibly make changes to federal immigration law. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he’ll help the administration to deport undocumented people who break the law — Brown echoed the governor on Thursday, telling reporters he will focus on “violent criminals.”
“The focus has to be violent crimes,” he said. “That’s where our authority is. On the greater issue, on things like deportation, that really isn’t the role of this office.”
There are also several cases involving the death penalty moving through the court system. That includes a case before the Utah Supreme Court in which Utah’s death row inmates are arguing that firing squad and lethal injection executions violate their rights, and a competency hearing for convicted murderer Ralph Menzies, who has dementia.
When asked his thoughts on the death penalty, Brown said his opinion “isn’t really relevant.”
“What matters is whether I will defend the law, and on this issue I will,” he said.
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