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Short Among 14 Who Apply to Be Utah Porn Czar, Resumes are fewer than expected. Attorney General-elect Shurtleff expects to make a decision in January
Saturday, December 30, 2000 

BY DAN HARRIE

THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE


   Fourteen people have submitted resumes to the Utah Attorney General's Office for consideration to be the state's first porn czar.

    It's an interesting group, Attorney General-elect Mark Shurtleff said Friday.

    Fourteen applications is fewer than normally received for an open assistant attorney general's position ' indicating public interest and news media coverage of the obscenity and pornography complaints ombudsman might be higher than among licensed, practicing attorneys.

    Still, Shurtleff said the 12-man, two-woman group contains some well qualified prospects. They include assistant city attorneys from Salt Lake City, West Valley, Provo, St. George and Bremerton, Wash., a former sheriff and one-time Salt Lake County Attorney Doug Short.

    The names of applicants are being kept under wraps ' except Short, who has publicly indicated his interest in the job.

    We consider [the names] confidential, said Bill Evans, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office. The sensitivity to job-seekers' privacy is no different than in other job postings, he added.

    Libertarian and nude-dancing club attorney Andrew McCullough is not among the prospective porn fighters, despite suggesting last week that he intended to apply.

    Short, meantime, acknowledged he has a keen interest in the job.

    I would hope I have a good shot, said the former county attorney whose tenure was marked by controversy and a combative style. I've got a lot of experience in the nuts and bolts of the job.

    Duties of the position entail drafting a statewide moral nuisance law, developing an anti-smut model ordinance for local communities and assisting cities, towns and individuals in legal efforts to drive out sexually oriented businesses.

    Qualifications include a license to practice law and expertise in investigating and prosecuting obscenity and pornography crimes. The statutory requirement that the officeholder be an attorney apparently rules out the former sheriff applicant.

    Officially dubbed the obscenity and pornography complaints ombudsman, the office was authorized by the Legislature and governor in March. But only one-half year's salary and office expenses were appropriated, delaying filling of the job until January. Gov. Mike Leavitt has requested the rest of the funding ' bringing the annual cost up to $150,000 ' in the upcoming legislative session.

    With applications now in hand, the involvement of outgoing Attorney General Jan Graham is over.

    Jan Graham is going to defer to Mark Shurtleff, and Mark is going to be making that decision, said Evans. That will be his call in the new administration.

    Shurtleff, a Republican replacing Democrat Graham, said he specifically requested that he appoint the first pornography ombudsman. He plans to make his selection soon after he is sworn into office Thursday.

    I'll narrow that [list of 14] to six or so to interview and then make a decision, he said. In an interview soon after his Nov. 7 election, Shurtleff said Short would not be joining his office. But more recently he said, I haven't ruled out Doug. I'm not going to blacklist anybody.

    State Rep. Evan Olsen, R-Young Ward, said when he sponsored the porn czar bill in the last legislative session he always intended for the position to kick off under a new administration.

    I wanted the new attorney general to start out fresh, said Olsen, who recently discussed his views with Shurtleff. I'm just anxious to see it get started.

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