Utah Supreme Court: Mayor Exonerated in Criminal Trial Is Entitled to Reimbursement for Attorney Fees

On February 18, 2011, the Utah Supreme Court upheld a trial court’s ruling that a mayor who had been charged with criminal conduct could bring a claim against the city in which he served for reimbursement for his attorney fees based on the Utah Reimbursement Statute, Utah Code Ann. Section 52-6-201(1), when he was found not guilty of misusing public funds while he was mayor.  In Olsen v. Eagle Mountain City, the Court rejected the city’s argument that the mayor was not entitled to reimbursement because he failed to give the city the opportunity to defend him in the suit.  The Court found that the language upon which the city relied was clearly intended to relate to civil cases rather than criminal cases and, therefore, was not applicable in the case of a criminal charge.

The decision is the second in less than a month dealing with the Utah Reimbursement Statute.  In the earlier case, Acor v. Salt Lake City School District, the Utah Supreme Court held that for purposes of the statute, the relevant inquiries entitling an employee acquitted of criminal conduct were only (1) whether an employee was acquitted of charges, not whether the employee could be found to have been guilty in the later civil trial requesting reimbursement, and (2) whether the complained of act occurred at a time and place of authorized employment, not whether the employee was acting outside the scope of his or her employment.