Mark Shurtleff
19th Attorney General of Utah
In office
January 2001 – January 2013
GovernorMike Leavitt
Olene Walker
Jon Huntsman
Gary Herbert
Preceded byJan Graham
Succeeded byJohn Swallow
Member of the Salt Lake County Commission
In office
January 1999 – January 2001
Personal details
Born
Mark Leonard Shurtleff[1]

(1957-08-09) August 9, 1957
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Children5
EducationBrigham Young University (BS)
University of Utah (JD)
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Navy
Years of service1985-1990
RankCommander
UnitJ.A.G. Corps

Mark Leonard Shurtleff (born August 9, 1957) is an American attorney, former three-term Utah Attorney General, and founder of the Shurtleff Law Firm and the Shurtleff Group. He was a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm Troutman Sanders[2] and served as a Salt Lake County Commissioner prior to being elected as Attorney General of the state of Utah.

Education and early career

Shurtleff attended Brighton High School (Cottonwood Heights, Utah), Brigham Young University, University of Utah College of Law, and University of San Diego School of Law. Shurtleff served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Peru.[3] He served four years in the United States Navy as a Judge Advocate General Corps (JAG).[4]

Career

Shurtleff was the Deputy County Attorney and a Commissioner of Salt Lake County and later became an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Utah. Shurtleff was elected Attorney General in November 2000, and re-elected in 2004 and 2008. He is the first Attorney General in Utah to win re-election for a third term.[5]

As Attorney General, Shurtleff issued an official legal opinion stating that under a second law (HB174), private school vouchers would still be funded even if voters rejected the primary voucher bill (HB 148) in a November referendum.[6][7]

In May 2007, Shurtleff testified before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee as a Republican in support of the Constitutionality of granting full representation in Congress for residents of Washington DC.[8] That year Shurtleff co-founded the Utah Meth Cops Project and raised money to provide detoxification treatment to police officers.[9][10]

On May 12, 2009, Shurtleff disclosed, via a Twitter message, that he planned to enter the 2010 Republican primary.[11] On November 4, 2009, Shurtleff ended his campaign for U.S. Senate in order to spend more time with his daughter, who was experiencing health problems.[12] That year, he co-founded the Utah Pharmaceutical Drug Crime Project, an unprecedented multi-agency, multi-disciplinary task force to combat the serious problem of prescription drug abuse. Partners included the DEA, FBI, Utah Departments of Public Safety and Human Services, and the Salt Lake City Police Department.[13]

In September 2010, Shurtleff testified before the House Judiciary Committee in support of the Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness Act,[14] an act that seeks to reverse the effects of Granholm v. Heald, a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court case that ruled unconstitutional state laws that permitted in-state wineries to ship wine directly to consumers, but prohibited out-of-state wineries from doing the same. Shurtleff's remarks[14] were drafted by the general counsel of the National Beer Wholesalers Association.[15][16]

In April 2013, Shurtleff testified before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee in support of comprehensive immigration reform during the Hearing on the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, S.744.[17]

In February, 2013, Shurtleff spoke on Capitol Hill in Washington DC on "The Role of State Attorneys General in Enforcing Federal Law" to Congressional staffers at the Civil Justice Caucus Academy run by George Mason University School of Law[18]

In July 2015, Mark Shurtleff, with his brother Kevin Shurtleff, started a business called MicromistNOW.[19] The company's first product is the QuickNic Nicotine Inhaler.[19] While attorney general Shurtleff made multiple public statements critical of the tobacco industry.[19]

Allegations of criminal misconduct

In 2008 several articles from local news sources accused Shurtleff of corruption and bribery regarding his prosecutorial decisions.[20][21][22][23] These allegations were investigated by the FBI but the United States Department of Justice took no action.[24] In 2014 Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill filed 10 felony charges against Shurtleff.[25] Davis County District Attorney Troy Rawlings took over the Shurtleff prosecution when Shurtleff's criminal case was severed from former Attorney General John Swallow's. In July 2016 the state criminal charges against Shurtleff were dismissed on a motion by the state.

Election history

Utah Attorney General Election, 2000
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Mark Shurtleff 435,988 57
Democratic Reed Richards 299,683 40
Utah Attorney General Election, 2004
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Mark Shurtleff 614,742 68.4 +11.4
Democratic Gregory Skordas 255,779 28.4
Utah Attorney General Election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Mark Shurtleff 650,147 69.3 +0.9
Democratic Jean Welch 249,492 26.6

Personal life

Shurtleff is divorced with five children and eight grandchildren. He is an Eagle Scout and is fluent in Spanish.[4] Shurtleff was honored by the Boys and Girls Clubs with their 2012 Living Legacy Award.[26] Shurtleff was divorced on November 6, 2019[27]

References

  1. ↑ "Mark L Shurtleff Profile | Salt Lake City, UT Lawyer | Martindale.com". www.martindale.com. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Troutman Sanders LLP". www.TroutmanSanders.com. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  3. ↑ "LDS faithful wrestle with illegal immigration". www.AzCentral.com. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  4. 1 2 Lisa Riley Roche (October 18, 2004). "Shurtleff enjoys public service". Deseret Morning News.
  5. ↑ Ben Winslow (March 20, 2008). "Shurtleff seeks re-election". Deseret Morning News.
  6. ↑ Lisa Riley Roche; Erin Stewart (March 28, 2007). "2 voucher laws at risk? Shurtleff says only one affected by referendum". Deseret Morning News.
  7. ↑ Tiffany Erickson; Bob Bernick Jr. "Justices Rule Voucher Amendment cannot stand on its own". Deseret Morning News.
  8. ↑ "Testimony of Mark Shurtleff" (PDF). judiciary.senate.gov. May 23, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  9. ↑ Winslow, Ben (November 8, 2007). "Police detox at clinic for exposure to meth". DeseretNews.com. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  10. ↑ Ross, GH; Sternquist, MC (2012). "Methamphetamine exposure and chronic illness in police officers: significant improvement with sauna-based detoxification therapy". Toxicol Ind Health. 28 (8): 758–68. doi:10.1177/0748233711425070. PMC 3573677. PMID 22089658.
  11. ↑ Aaron Blake (May 13, 2009). "Whoops: Utah official accidentally tweets Senate bid". The Hill.
  12. ↑ "Shurtleff pulls out of Senate race against Bennett". The Daily Herald. 2009. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
  13. ↑ Israelsen-Hartley, Sara (April 16, 2009). "Task force takes aim at prescription-drug abuse". DeseretNews.com. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  14. 1 2 Hearing on: H.R. 5034, the "Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness (CARE) Act of 2010" Archived October 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine from the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, which includes a transcript of Shurtleff's prepared remarks Archived October 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ Shurtleff: Beer group drafted my testimony, a September 30, 2010 article from The Salt Lake Tribune
  16. ↑ Utah AG Testimony: Testament to Lobbying Ties?, a September 30, 2010 Washington Wire blog post from The Wall Street Journal
  17. ↑ "Testimony of Former Utah Attorney General Mark L. Shurtleff". aila.org. April 22, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  18. ↑ Academy, Civil Justice Caucus (February 21, 2013). "The Role of State Attorneys General in Enforcing Federal Law – Mark Shurtleff (3 of 5)". Retrieved October 29, 2017 – via Vimeo.
  19. 1 2 3 Lockhart, Ben; Nelson, Paul (July 15, 2015). "Ex-A.G. Mark Shurtleff starts business selling nicotine mist". Desert News. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  20. ↑ Eric Peterson (September 24, 2008). "Drug Deal". Salt Lake City Weekly.
  21. ↑ Lee Davidson (May 27, 2008). "Marc Sessions Jenson fraud trial postponed pending plea deal". Deseret News.
  22. ↑ Lee Davidson; Bob Bernick Jr. (May 24, 2008). "Allegations swirling in fraud case". Deseret News.
  23. ↑ Robert Gehrke (May 23, 2013). "Secret recording Mark Shurtleff offers 2 million to silence critic". Salt Lake Tribune.
  24. ↑ Romboy, Dennis (September 12, 2013). "No federal charges coming against John Swallow, Mark Shurtleff". Deseret News. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
  25. ↑ Crofts, Natalie (July 15, 2014). "Swallow, Shurtleff taken into custody". KSL. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Boys and Girls Club Gala set for Feb. 11 – Midvale Journal". MidvaleJournal.com. August 27, 2014. Archived from the original on August 27, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  27. ↑ Shurtleff married Melinda (Clegg) Worley on January 23, 2020.

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