Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- A Utah Attorney General's Office audit revealed costly software redundancy and lack of guiding policies for prosecutors.
- The audit highlighted positive internal culture despite limited leadership involvement from ex-AG Sean Reyes.
- Attorney General Derek Brown acknowledged issues and plans improvements, emphasizing the need for better case management systems.
SALT LAKE CITY — As part of a top-down audit of the Utah Attorney General's Office released Friday, a legislative subcommittee identified costly software redundancy and found prosecutors "did not have policies guiding their work."
The audit, led by Auditor General Kade Minchey for a subcommittee co-chaired by Senate President J. Stuart Adams and Speaker of the House Mike Schultz, was released to the public Friday — one of four, including a scathing appraisal of former Attorney General Sean Reyes' withholding of information from the public and auditors.
Positive internal culture
"When we come in and do an audit, we conduct a cultural survey," Utah deputy auditor general Brian Dean said during his presentation. "The culture of the (attorney general) as a whole — it was very high."

The survey of the office found that 83% of respondents agreed, or strongly agreed with the statement: "My organization has a positive culture." Relative to other Utah agencies that have taken the survey, the attorney general's office placed second, comparing the averages in responses to the above question.
Alan Crooks, Reyes' senior adviser, released a statement Friday saying these results "speak volumes about the vision, consistency and leadership from the top, especially in relation to when (Attorney General) Reyes took over at the lowest point in (the Utah Attorney General's Office) history," crediting "its people and the leadership of Reyes and his management team."
Auditors say the positive culture existed "regardless of the (attorney general's) limited involvement in the day-to-day administration of the office" reported in the audit of Reyes, attributing it instead to a substantial salary increase for attorneys recently approved by the Legislature.
According to the audit, the office has "been able to hire and retain attorneys at a much higher rate than before the increase."
Attorney General Derek Brown, just three weeks into his term, attended the audit presentation to talk about planned improvements his administration will make in light of the numerous recommendations. "It's got a good culture, and we have a lot of attorneys who, just to be really honest, can make a lot more money if they left and they worked in the private sector, and they still stay."
Redundant software
A 2015 audit found the lack of an officewide case management system "contributed to multiple inefficiencies. These included dropped cases, missed deadlines, unnecessary time spent searching through documents, and an inability to gather officewide performance measures."
In response, the attorney general's office purchased a system "intended to be used by all divisions." The report says the office has spent over $1.36 million on "procurement and yearly maintenance of the program."

In the most recent audit, however, the report says adoption of the software "differed greatly" between divisions. "Some divisions use the case management system frequently while others rarely or never use it," the report concluded.
In fiscal year 2024, the criminal side of the office bought a new system, signing a three-year contract costing over $245,000 a year, auditors say. The purchase was made "with limited feedback from the (attorney general), other executive leaders, and (IT) and finance staff."
In the opinion of auditors, leadership was at fault for the expensive redundancy. "During one of our conversations, a member of the executive team noted that the executive team had not set the implementation of the case management system as a high priority and that not much effort had gone into implementation," the report says.
"We have some work on the case management system," Brown told the subcommittee. "The audit has identified that, and I could not agree more, this is a major issue for us."
"The reality is, we are the largest law firm in the state, and one of the things lawyers and law firms have to have is really professional and high-tech case management systems," Brown said to the media after the presentation. "Ours isn't great at this point, and that's one of the things they spent a lot of time talking about: the management system, the resources that went into it, and that sort of thing."
Prosecutors' decision-making process
"Several outside parties contacted our office with concerns about such things as the thoroughness of investigations, potential prosecutor bias and unclear plea deals," the report says. Those concerns "could not be substantiated," the auditors say, but found prosecutors "did not have policies guiding their work."
Internal panel discussions with "seasoned prosecutors and investigators" have been used to guide decision-making in regards to evidence, possible charges, potential plea deals and whether or not to pursue a case, the report says. The department had very little documentation on these decisions, making it impossible for auditors to know why decisions were made or evaluate the credibility of complaints.

"Due to the lack of full documentation, we cannot comment on the decision-making process," the report says.
Many favorable traits were also noted in the report. The office, according to auditors, had successfully implemented many of the key recommendations" from the two reports the office conducted in 2015. That includes creating an internal service fund, a better accounting system and a standardized employee evaluation template.
"I've asked whether I've been concerned about the audits," Brown said. "Not at all. This is an opportunity to learn and to analyze what we're doing in the office. Are there things that we can change and improve? The answer is absolutely."
