San Juan County Attorney resigns

Kendall Laws has submitted his resignation as San Juan County Attorney.
In a letter dated March 8, Laws thanked residents for the opportunity to serve for the past seven years.
“It has been mostly a pleasure to work in this capacity,” said Laws. “The County has seen many highs and lows during this time, and I have been humbled to be a part of the highs and exhausted by the prevaricated lows.”
Laws has accepted a position to work for the state of Utah in the Public Lands Policy Coordination Office (PLPCO). His last day in office will be March 25.
Laws explains within PLPCO, he will work for their policy and legal endeavors in San Juan, Grand, Carbon, and Emery counties.
“It’ll be a good opportunity to still represent and help the people in San Juan County and give back to the community in a little bit different way,” said Laws.
Laws has served as County Attorney since January 2015.
He was elected to a second four year-term in 2018 and has nine months remaining on his current term.
“It has been a difficult decision to leave office with time left on my term,” said Laws. “However, after a lot of pondering and soul searching, my wife and I have decided that this is the best option for our family at this time.”
In his letter (found in full on Page A4) Laws said several professional opportunities presented themselves to him without him seeking them out.
He also thanked law enforcement entities in the county and said that the county has seen progress with room for additional progress.
 The selection process for who fills out the remainder of Laws term is different than other county elected positions.
In a county of fewer than 15 attorneys, the Clerk sends a letter soliciting interest from all bar licensed attorneys in good standing and registered to vote in the county.
If four or more responses come back, the Democratic party narrows it to three and the commission picks from those three.
If fewer than four respond, then the commission selects from one of the responding attorneys or they can reject and hire their own choice to fill the vacancy until January. 
No Democratic candidate filed to run for county attorney in the November general election. Republican Alex Goble is the lone registered candidate for the office.