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AG Sean Reyes Reorganizes Office

Photo of Sean Reyes.
Brian Grimmett
/
KUER
File: Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes

Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes has reorganized several positions in his office over the past month, including demoting several Division Chiefs. 

The attorney general’s office is now broken down into five departments instead of four. Reyes has broken off the civil and criminal appeals divisions into their own department. The Attorney General has also created a new markets and financial fraud division and constitutional defense division and combined the environment and health divisions and the children’s and criminal justice divisions. These changes also led to the reassignment of six division directors. Reyes says the reorganization stemmed from a campaign promise to evaluate each employee and assign them based on their merits.

“Some of it was motivated because, just from an efficiency standpoint," he says. "We wanted to make sure that we were putting, not only people that were top notch lawyers, but excellent managers. Change is a good thing in the office from time to time.”

While Reyes says the moves should not be considered punitive, those reassigned will also be receiving pay cuts unlike when similar moves were made under past attorneys general.

“But I thought, because I’m trying to be fiscally responsible with the people’s money, that it made the most sense to have those who are in leadership to get paid the management bump, as we call it, and those who are leaving or exiting, not,” he says.

Reyes says so far the feedback he has received about the changes has been mostly positive. 

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