Dear Fellow Utah Republican,
Last year, with only a few weeks in office as Attorney General and facing major constitutional cases on same-sex marriage, polygamy, immigration and the environment, I lived up to my campaign promise to abolish administrative subpoenas and then worked hard with the legislature to assure that use of any subpoenas must occur with court oversight. I further lived up to my word by having audits conducted of the AG office and presented findings from one audit to the legislature exposing financial waste and inefficiencies. And, I fulfilled my promises by advocating during the legislative session to keep the office of AG an elected position answerable to the people rather than an appointed one accountable only to the person or body appointing the AG. All in all, the AG office had a productive first session.
At the close of my second legislative session, I am excited to announce that another campaign promise has now been fulfilled and my idea has come to fruition in the form of H.B. 378: White Collar Crime Registry that the Governor is ready to sign. H.B. 378 will allow Utahns to access a registry/list/database of the most egregious white collar criminals and predators through an online site hosted by the Utah Attorney General’s office. It will make information that is already public more accessible to the average citizen, empowering them to make the best and most informed investment decisions possible and, hopefully, avoid being caught up in the billions of dollars lost annually to fraud schemes and other financial crimes. The bill will also incentivize restitution, or the repayment of misappropriated funds to victims. Victims typically receive no restitution, or if any, it is an average of ½ of one percent of the investment they lost.
I want to thank the sponsors of the bill, Rep. Mike McKell and Senator Curt Bramble, whose support guided this important legislation overwhelmingly through both chambers to the Governor’s desk. I am confident Utahns will quickly realize the benefit of this new, free online asset as soon as it rolls out later this year. While I have significantly increased both investigations and prosecutions of white collar cases under the AG’s office, it is still education that is the most effective deterrent to investment fraud. It is why we partner with organizations such as the AARP to protect the most vulnerable populations in our community through education prevention. The simple, low cost, user-friendly approach of H.B. 378 is a result of my business background and ability to bring business methods and solutions to government problems.
As the first of its kind in the nation, H.B. 378 has drawn interest as model legislation from legislatures and Attorneys General from across the nation as well as generating robust media attention locally and nationally. For more background on the bill and its benefits, please take time to read the following articles by Deseret News and The Salt Lake Tribune by clicking on logos below.
To hear me discuss the benefits of the registry to Utah citizens and other states that might adopt our model, please listen to an in depth radio interview on NPR by clicking on logo below.
Even The New York Times, rarely favorable to Republicans, felt Utah’s white collar crime registry was important enough to share with its global readership.
With Utah’s 2015 legislative session now over, we will continue to work hard on the thousands of cases our office is handling on behalf of the state and its citizens, including: constitutional cases, filing lawsuits when needed against the federal government (and President) to protect the State from federal overreach. We will continue to investigate and prosecute white collar cases at an unprecedented rate, continue to battle against the evils of human trafficking, sexual and other abuse of children and women, drug trafficking, cybercrimes, terrorist threats, among other crimes. As always, thank you again for your support and trust.
With deep appreciation and respect,
Sean D. Reyes
Utah Attorney General 2016, I will have run four campaign cycles in five years, the most of any public official in the United States. This is not only unprecedented, but it requires an enormous amount of resources. Please consider donating today to ensure that my team and I can continue to restore trust to the AG Office and build on the policies, procedures, and technology improvements we've already instituted to protect all Utahns. No contribution is too small or large!
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