Eric Mainord, a Summit County sheriff’s deputy who briefly ran for sheriff in Wasatch County, had at least three formal complaints filed against him during his previous employment with the Heber City Police Department, according to documents provided to The Park Record through a public records request.

Outgoing Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby, who lost the primary election this summer to Wasatch County Director of Emergency Services Jeremy Hales, contacted Summit County officials in January to express concerns about Mainord’s involvement in the Kouri Richins trial. Mainord withdrew from the race on May 27.

Mainord announced his candidacy for Wasatch County sheriff on Jan. 7, and Rigby met with Summit County Sheriff Kacey Bates the following day. Rigby, now under investigation in Summit County for allegedly interfering with a criminal case, brought a list of 13 claims he said would damage Mainord’s credibility, all of which reportedly stemmed from his employment with the Heber City Police Department from 2013 to 2019.

The Park Record obtained documentation of complaints filed against Mainord while he was employed by Heber City through a Government Records Access and Management Act, which showed he was disciplined and placed on probation at least three times while a member of the Heber City Police Department.

On Tuesday, Mainord declined to comment on the complaints filed against him or the ongoing criminal investigation into Rigby’s actions.

A letter from the Police Department dated Aug. 3, 2015, said Mainord had acted in “an abusive manner” toward a citizen and called his behavior “angry, unprofessional (and) rude.” It also said Mainord threatened to cite or arrest the citizen for an incident “that did not occur” and that he “had insufficient evidence for charges.”

Three supervisors within the department investigated the complaint and determined Mainord had acted inappropriately, according to the letter.

“We are surprised and concerned over the anger you exhibited in the video and concerned with your personal wellbeing and potential stressors that may be aggravating your wellbeing,” the letter said. “We find also that the allegations are sustained and a violation of, or in conflict with, various policies and procedures.”

One policy infraction included a failure to read the citizen their Miranda rights, which inform people of their constitutional rights during a police investigation, the letter said. He also reportedly failed to activate his body camera as required by the department when a situation “becomes adversarial.”

The letter said department supervisors were concerned about Mainord’s behavior because of two previous incidents that caused him to be verbally reprimanded in 2013 and 2014.

Specifically, the document said Mainord cursed at a member of the public at a farmers market in 2013 and was “verbally counseled and warned to correct the behavior.” In 2014, he was again verbally reprimanded for arguing with a Wasatch County employee, according to the letter.

Mainord was asked to comply with a “fitness for duty examination” and follow any recommendations in addition to attending a required anger management class. He was also suspended from participating in special assignments, such as the SWAT team, and barred from receiving overtime unless approved by a supervisor for six months.

He violated the department’s corrective action plan less than two months after the first letter was issued, according to the document.

On Oct. 1, 2015, Mainord was reprimanded for a second time after he allegedly failed to follow orders, “used inappropriate force” and “acted unprofessionally in the presence of the general public by using unnecessary foul language.”

The letter said Mainord was asked to protect an underage girl during an “undercover takedown operation” involving an individual suspected of an inappropriate relationship with the minor. Mainord was ordered to stay with the girl while other officers apprehended the adult individual outside of a restaurant, but Mainord allegedly entered the establishment and contacted the suspect before he left the building.

“You drew your weapon on a suspect who was not posing any threat, whose arms were occupied with a package, and there was no specific information available indicating that there would be a threat,” the letter said. “While your weapon was drawn, you physically engaged the suspect without holstering your weapon while other officers were available to physically take the suspect into custody.”

The document said Mainord also “used foul language in front of uninvolved restaurant patrons and employees.”

Mainord’s supervisors wrote that he violated the city’s personnel policy by refusing to “comply with lawful instruction” and engaging in “insubordination” in addition to violating the Police Department’s procedures surrounding reasonable force and professionalism.

“The violations are further aggravated by recent discipline where mistreatment of another member of the public was addressed,” the letter said. “Because these types of incidents are continuing, a pattern of poor relations between you, the general public and neighboring agencies continues to bring discredit to the Heber City Police Department.”

The second incident led the department to place Mainord on probation for one year, which meant he was ineligible to participate in specialized or out-of-state training, as well as specialized assignments. He was removed from the SWAT team, and the active period for his corrective action plan was extended until May 2016.

Mainord was denied a merit pay increase for the year, too.

The department also mandated Mainord meet with a supervisor “bi-monthly” to “concentrate on (his) attitude and feelings pertaining to the general public, surrounding agencies” and the Heber City Police Department. The supervisor was responsible for documenting Mainord’s work performance and providing him with “coping mechanisms in dealing with stress and deescalating situations.”

Mainord was disciplined for a third time in 2017 after he was involved in a “verbal altercation” with a Utah Highway Patrol trooper, according to another letter in Mainord’s personnel file. The document said the trooper was removing debris from U.S. 40 when Mainord drove by and allegedly passed the trooper “too close,” which caused the trooper to make a rude hand gesture at Mainord.

Mainord then pulled over to talk with the trooper, but the “discussion quickly turned heated and generated a complaint” from the Utah Highway Patrol, the letter said.

Mainord’s supervisors wrote he “unnecessarily” stopped to interact with the trooper “who was obviously hostile” and chose to engage in an argument instead of apologizing, de-escalating the situation or ignoring the trooper. Mainord also cursed at the trooper and reportedly taunted him, based on body camera video the department reviewed.

“The altercation became so heated that (the trooper) called for backup units,” the letter said. “Regardless of our opinion of (the trooper’s) choice, this caused multiple emergency resources to be deployed unnecessarily to a ridiculous situation that you had every opportunity to avoid.”

The letter said Mainord showed a “continuing pattern of conduct” that is “further degrading relations” between Mainord, the public and other law enforcement agencies.

“This discredit has now become so pronounced that when the Wasatch County sheriff was called to testify on a legal action against you, his testimony was damaging,” the letter said, referring to former Wasatch County Sheriff Todd Bonner. “This despite the case being defensible in every other way.”

The document said Mainord was told to take days off with pay and “analyze (his) desire to remain with the department.” He was asked to provide a corrective action plan to his supervisors but failed to do so, which the letter said was “discouraging.”

Mainord was suspended without pay for five days and reassigned as a code enforcement officer and bailiff. He was placed on probation for one year and denied a merit pay increase.

The department also mandated that Mainord meet with a supervisor once a week to discuss his feelings about the job and learn coping strategies. Mainord also received another body camera, which he was directed to activate “anytime a contact becomes ‘adversarial.’”

Mainord appealed the disciplinary actions associated with the Utah Highway Patrol incident, but former Heber City Manager Mark Anderson upheld the department’s findings after reviewing statements from Mainord and the state trooper, body camera footage and internal city reports.

“As I contemplated what a fair outcome would be, the issue that I have to grapple with is the fact that there is a documented pattern of confrontational behavior that has caused harm to the Heber City Police Department’s reputation and enhanced potential liability/risk to the city,” Anderson wrote. “As we discussed, the public is more likely to file suit against the city if the officer involved in an incident has a history of documented aggressive behavior. The risk is increased if other law enforcement agencies view the officer as a problem officer that is difficult to work with.”

Anderson added that he was “confident” Mainord had “the work ethic to be very successful in code enforcement” and encouraged him to view the reassignment as a way to “have a huge positive impact on the appearance of our community.”

“Lastly, Eric, please be aware that the city acknowledges that you have made progress in this area, and that you have solved several high profile crimes through tenacious work effort and … good judgment in many instances,” Anderson said. “The city also appreciates your continued loyalty you have shown. I hope that you will address the issues identified by police leadership, as you have the potential to make a big difference in the department and the city.”

Rigby in a statement to The Park Record through his attorney said the disciplinary records “corroborated Heber City’s findings” that Mainord “used excessive force, was insubordinate and unprofessional in his conduct with citizens and other law enforcement agencies.”

The statement said Rigby “had a duty under Utah law” to report Mainord to Bates since she was the newly appointed sheriff.

“Sheriff Rigby met with Bates in order to protect Wasatch County citizens from potentially being subjected to Mainord’s excessive use of force and unprofessional conduct,” the statement said. “Mainord was expected to soon be part of the Wasatch Back Major Crimes Task Force, which, as a member of, Mainord would potentially investigate serious crimes in Wasatch County. … Sheriff Rigby’s discussion with Bates concerning Mainord’s disciplinary history was consistent with his statutory duty and professional accountability.”

Editor’s note: This article was updated to include a statement from Rigby.

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Heber City couple Michele and T.C. Thomas’ 9-year-old son, who has Down syndrome, likes to explore, even if he doesn’t have an adult with him.

“One day, I was in the bathroom, and my husband was gone, and my front door camera went off, and it was him. He was walking straight out the front door. He had figured out the childproof door handle and lock and just went on his way,” Michele said. “There’s so much to see, so many people to meet.”

Wandering is common among those with certain developmental disabilities, such as Down syndrome and autism spectrum disorder, but it also affects people with other conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. It refers to situations where someone leaves a safe area or a responsible caregiver, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reuniting the individual with caregivers can be complicated when the individual has communication differences or is nonverbal.

Because of risks like drowning and traffic injury, it’s important for law enforcement to “act fast” in such situations, as Michele put it. That’s why T.C., formerly a Heber City Police Department officer, created a vulnerable persons form about eight years ago. 

The voluntary form allows residents to provide information about themself or a loved one in the case they go missing or have an interaction with law enforcement. It advises police on how best to communicate and interact with the individual and provides emergency contacts and photos of the person.

T.C.’s plans to expand the program “fizzled out” when he left the Police Department last July, according to officer Travis Price. So, Price took up the mantle himself, launching the new Project Safeguard last week.

Project Safeguard published the vulnerable persons form online, which includes sections about an individual’s triggers, calming techniques, likes and dislikes. 

Likes have ranged from soothing music to the flashing lights of police cars, Price explained. Meanwhile, one person’s dislike was “males.”

“In that instance, we may rely on our female officers or deputies or first responders to have a key role in that. Maybe we want them to be the ones to initiate the conversation with the individual once we find them or calm them down,” Price said.

The Police Department is also distributing Project Safeguard stickers at the police station that can be placed on car or home windows to alert officers that a vulnerable person may be present.

The Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office is working on launching a similar Red Dot program, according to public information officer Leo Lucey. Residents can put stickers on their cars to indicate that someone in the vehicle may have special medical needs and provide a letter detailing those needs to law enforcement if pulled over. 

The Police Department can also share information from Project Safeguard with the Sheriff’s Office, Price said.

The goal of Project Safeguard is for vulnerable persons to have “win-win” interactions with law enforcement, according to Cheryl Smith, the former president of the Autism Council of Utah. 

She said her son, who is 28 and autistic, “does a lot of things that look sketchy” but are actually driven by his special interests.

For example, he may look into someone’s car window if he spots some VHS tapes, which he loves to collect. But because he is nonverbal, he would be unable to communicate what he was doing if he were to have a run-in with law enforcement. 

“One of your fears as a parent is that your kid’s going to have an interaction with officers, and it’s going to go wrong,” Smith said. 

That’s exactly what happened to Golda Barton in 2020 when she called 911 for assistance amid her 13-year-old son Linden Cameron’s meltdown. Salt Lake City Police arrived on the scene, and when Cameron, unarmed, ran from the house, officer Matthew Farillas shot him six times, injuring him. The family sued the city and was awarded $3 million in 2022.

Cameron’s shooting by police was part of what inspired Price to launch Project Safeguard.

“It’s very unfortunate what Cameron and his family had to go through. However, we can educate our officers when they see or hear, ‘Hey, this individual may be on the spectrum,’ to take a step back and realize … their boundaries may be different from other individuals and communication,” he said.

The incident also inspired legislation requiring Utah law enforcement training and intervention responses for mental illnesses, autism spectrum disorder and other neurological and developmental disorders at least once every three years. 

In 2024, Crisis Intervention Team Utah trained the Police Department and Sheriff’s Office. The 40-hour program provides education about how to recognize symptoms of various mental illnesses and disorders and walks officers through scenarios, explained Executive Director Dr. Todd Soutor. 

But he said the most valuable part of the training is connecting police officers with community officers who have “lived experience” and having them share their stories.

“Empathy is such an important component of responding in an informed and educated manner,” Soutor said.

The Autism Council of Utah also provides law enforcement training, but its interactions with local law enforcement agencies have been limited to providing autism sensory bags, free of charge, to the Police Department, Sheriff’s Office and Wasatch Fire District. The bags include fidget toys, noise-canceling headphones and Picture Exchange Communication System sheets, which nonverbal individuals can use to communicate by pointing at pictures or writing.

“We’ve had successes with that, where people have been so anxious they have actually gone nonverbal and were able to write out where they came from, so the officers could get them back home safely,” Smith said. 

For example, body cam footage recently released by the Salt Lake City Police Department shows officers using a sensory bag to de-escalate an incident with an autistic child last month.

Soutor said Utah law enforcement’s treatment of vulnerable persons is “moving in a positive direction.” Project Safeguard, he said, is just one example of that. 

To sign up for Project Safeguard, visit tinyurl.com/mrbccxnh. Summit County law enforcement agencies have a similar program. Learn more at tinyurl.com/rs96rb2b.

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The Wasatch County Clerk-Auditor’s Office on Wednesday finalized the results of the county’s GOP primary election, which took place on June 23.

Rachel Kahler has secured the Republican nomination for Wasatch County Council Seat A in the tightest race of this election. She secured 2,722 votes, or 51%, as opposed to Brett Vance’s 2,584 votes, or 49%. The pair have maintained those percentages of the vote since the preliminary results were released, even as final ballots have been counted.

Kahler said she was initially thrown for a tailspin by the closeness of the preliminary results but that the experience has given her a greater appreciation for just how much every vote counts.

“I’m grateful that we now have a final result, so that I can really move forward and focus on part two. This is a long campaign season, almost a year, and I’m excited to look at next steps, work with Wasatch County GOP leadership and really step forward as the Republican nominee,” she said.

Kahler will go on to face Democratic candidate Patrick Saucier in November’s general election.

Wasatch County Council Seat A is currently occupied by Luke Searle, who is running for House District 59, which serves Wasatch and Summit counties. 

Searle secured the Republican nomination over Jeffrey Pierce and will go on to face Democratic candidate and former Midway Mayor Celeste Johnson in the general election.

Searle won over 3,136 votes, or 58%, of Wasatch County voters. Pierce collected 2,247 votes or 42%.

Pierce secured more Summit County votes than Searle, though, with 522 votes compared to Searle’s 256. The Summit County Clerk’s Office’s results are still preliminary, but factoring them in, Searle and Pierce garnered 55% and 45% of the vote, respectively. Summit County will finalize results on Tuesday.

Wasatch County Emergency Management Director Jeremy Hales is the Republican nominee for sheriff. He secured 3,473 votes, or 67%, while incumbent Jared Rigby secured 1,744, or 33%. Hales will go on to face unaffiliated candidate Paul Moore in November.

The clerk-auditor election is the only one with an outcome that’s officially decided before the general election.

Incumbent Joey Granger and Park City Recorder Michelle Kellogg both ran as Republicans, with no opponents from other parties. Kellogg received 2,804 votes, or 53%, and Granger received 2,477, or 47%.

Granger shared some other statistics about the election with the Wasatch County Council when she presented the results on Wednesday. 

Of the 5,632 ballots received, only 190 were cast in-person.

“I think that means that our voters are pretty confident in the mail-in process. The majority of those were put in drop boxes,” Granger said.

The GOP election saw a 47% turnout from Wasatch County’s active Republican voters. That’s 5,522 votes from 11,725 registered Republican voters, who make up nearly two-thirds of registered voters in the county.

“That’s a pretty good turnout,” Granger said.

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Lyndee Scott was making bookmarks with kids in the Wasatch County Library courtyard on Saturday morning as part of the library’s summer kickoff party when her 17-year-old daughter, Trinity, told her she’d seen a bottle with an attached note addressed to law enforcement close to a nearby bush.

“I looked over, and there were police there. I was like, ‘That’s really weird.’ I didn’t think anything of it at first, but then, more and more police started coming,” Lyndee said.

Lyndee and Trinity were volunteering with Kathy Carr, vice board chair of the Wasatch Community Foundation, which was a sponsor of the event. Carr said the nonprofit’s booth, right next to The Pretzel Connection’s, was about 20 feet away from the bottle. 

Carr noticed library director Juan Lee talking to the police officers. A few minutes later, library staff and police calmly instructed attendees to evacuate into the library, keeping away from the windows. Scott said they were inside the library for about an hour. 

During that time, the Heber City Police Department and Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office deployed a K-9 trained to sniff out explosives and ammunition. The K-9 gave a positive indication on the bottle. 

“I was able to see that, when the dog alerted, he alerted twice and then jumped up in the bush,” Lyndee said. “My daughter was saying, ‘Oh my gosh. Is this thing going to explode?’ It was crazy and nerve-wracking just waiting, wondering if we’re going to make it out.”

Carr said there were about 300 people at the event, many families with toddlers. 

Keeping the children entertained and blissfully unaware of the situation as they waited in the library was its own challenge.

“(Trinity) went and helped little kids look for books during (the lockdown) and then came back and was … getting updates,” Lyndee said.

Carr, meanwhile, spoke to some of the younger children about what role a K-9 plays in law enforcement and pointed out how “cool” it was to see one in action, protecting its community.

All the while, she was mentally preparing herself to, at a moment’s notice, push over tables in the library to use as barricades.

Carr said emergency drills she’d done in her past roles as a teacher and an organizer and accreditor of after school programs prepared her for that moment. 

“That mom side of me and that teacher side of me kicked in a little bit,” she said. “It’s just in my nature to make sure the kids are OK. That’s the No. 1. Make sure they’re calm and that this isn’t going to be traumatic for them.”

Police instructed patrons and staff to evacuate the library after the K-9 checked each car in the parking lot. At that time, police were also closing off 1200 South.

Police Chief Parker Sever said that one car was found with a legally obtained gun and ammunition in it but that it was unrelated to the incident.

Carr went home and waited for about two hours for an update about when she could return to the library to retrieve the belongings she’d left behind. 

The Heber Valley resident of four decades’ first assumption about the bottle was that it had been a prank because “it’s Heber,” but as she waited, she began to second guess herself.

“I just kept listening for sirens from my house,” Carr said.

During that time, a Salt Lake City-area bomb squad assisted the police department in disposing of the bottle using a bomb squad robot.

Sever said “nothing explosive” was found in the bottle.

The Police Department’s investigations team is actively working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident. 

Sever said bomb threats are “not super common” in Heber City and that there have been two others, at Wasatch High School and the Heber Valley Hospital, during his nearly three years as police chief.

Many witnesses are still grappling with the aftermath of the incident.

“It makes me sad if this was, one, a targeted event, and two, if it was a prank. It’s not funny,” Lyndee said. “Heber is growing, and it’s getting crazier, but I never thought that we’d have to be evacuated and have the bomb squad up here.”

Unlike Lyndee, this was not the first emergency situation Carr had been present for.

A gas leak on Main Street in 1994 forced the evacuation of “a few hundred” people to Central Elementary School (now the Heber City Public Safety building), where Carr was running an after school program with about 25 kids.

“That actually caused me to have a lot of questions because I started asking people, ‘If there was a big emergency, where would everyone evacuate? Where are the blankets?’ Because I had no idea how long people were going to end up staying at the school. I think they were able to clear it up by maybe 8 o’clock at night,” she said. “The early ’90s, compared to now, we are so much more prepared. … We have way more officers now that are on duty.”

Both Carr and Lyndee complimented library staff and police officers for handling the situation calmly.

“This could have been a lot more hectic and a lot more dangerous. I mean, there could have been stampedes,” Lyndee said. “The library staff did awesome, helping us evacuate, helping us get the information we needed as updates became available. The police did an outstanding job.”

Carr is well aware that the bomb threat has likely left many of the families who came for the summer kickoff party with lasting trauma. She encouraged talking to a trusted friend, family member, mental health counselor or religious leader.

Carr’s advice to anyone who finds themself in an emergency situation is to grab their keys, phone and kids and immediately move to a secure area, calling the authorities only when it is safe to do so.

As for after the incident?

“Take your kids for ice cream and distract them, and just tell them that the police are doing their job and that sometimes things happen, and you’re going to be protected because you’re with your parents and you’re with a trusted adult,” she said. “Or Kathy Carr will help you because she will do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”

The post ‘Wondering if we’re going to make it out’: Heber City residents recount bomb threat at Wasatch County Library appeared first on Park Record.

Wasatch County sheriff candidate Jeremy Hales said he would enact positive change in the first six months on the job if he’s elected. 

Hales, who is the emergency management director for the Sheriff’s Office, said he hopes to strengthen the law enforcement agency, support employees and build trust with the citizens of Wasatch County. 

“My first priority will be increasing transparency and communication. I will be present, accessible and engaged with our deputies, staff, elected officials, community leaders and citizens,” Hales said. 

Hales is facing incumbent Sheriff Jared Rigby for the post. The two Republicans will be on the June 23 GOP primary election ballot. Summit County detective Eric Mainord will also appear on the ballot, though no votes cast for him will be counted after he withdrew from the race. 

In May, Hales and Rigby participated in a candidate forum to discuss their views on top issues in Wasatch County. Hales said he is running for sheriff because he wants to bring change. 

“I want to bring a new voice and a new opinion that people will understand,” Hales said at the forum. 

That includes building on relationships with the community and law enforcement agencies across the Wasatch Back so the Sheriff’s Office is better equipped to handle rapid growth facing Wasatch County, according to Hales. 

If elected sheriff, Hales said he would work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “the right way.” For him, that means standing up for the rights of citizens. 

“We will have a say in what happens. We need to work with them. We need to be open and transparent,” Hales said. 

On public trust, Hales said building relationships is already something he has been working toward as the emergency management director for the Sheriff’s Office. 

“I already have a lot of those relationships in place. … I work with them on a sometimes month, sometimes weekly basis, so I do not need to stand back and wait for that to happen,” Hales said in May. 

Monday, Hales added that maintaining and strengthening public trust is one of the top issues facing the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office. 

“My priorities as sheriff would be establishing greater transparency within the Sheriff’s Office, strengthening trust with the community and enhancing the training, development and capabilities of our deputies and staff,” Hales said. 

Hales said the citizens of Wasatch County “deserve a Sheriff’s Office that is open, accountable, responsive and engaged.”

As Wasatch County grows, Hales said building public trust will help the Sheriff’s Office be better prepared to meet the challenges of the future. 

“I believe trust, communication and collaboration are the foundation of effective law enforcement. I want to instill confidence in those we serve, in the deputies and staff who serve alongside us, and in the agencies and communities that support us,” Hales said. 

All primary election ballots must be received by the county offices by June 23, which is also when in-person voting will take place. 

Secure ballot drop box locations have been open 24 hours since June 3 and close at 8 p.m. on June 23. Early in-person voting will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 15, 16, 17 and 18 at the Wasatch County Administration building. Election Day voting will be held from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The winner of the primary election will face Paul Moore, who recently became an unaffiliated candidate for sheriff, in November. 

The post Jeremy Hales hopes to enact positive change as Wasatch County sheriff appeared first on Park Record.

Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby said he is vying for a third term because he wants to continue serving the community. That, he said, is the most important thing. 

“The employees and the team that we have together have more … we’d like to accomplish,” Rigby said. “We feel like we have a great thing going, and we’d like to continue to do that for the community.”

Rigby, a Republican, is facing Wasatch County Emergency Management Director Jeremy Hales for the sheriff’s post. The two will be on the June 23 GOP primary election ballot. Summit County detective Eric Mainord will also appear, though no votes cast for him will be counted after his withdrawal from the race. 

At the Wasatch County Republican Party nominating convention in April, Rigby was the top vote-getter over Hales and Mainord. However, Rigby did not earn 60% of the vote. Rigby and Hales also chose the signature-gathering process, which triggers a primary election. 

Both candidates discussed their views on the future of the department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, fiscal responsibility and investigations into the Sheriff’s Office at a candidate forum in May. 

On public trust — a heavily-covered issue in the sheriff’s race — Rigby said that he plans to promote quality relationships between the Sheriff’s Office and the public in the future, along with other law enforcement agencies across the Wasatch Back. 

Regarding growth in the Wasatch Back, Rigby said that there will be “growing pains” and that all neighborhoods in Wasatch County are unique. It’s important, he said, for the Sheriff’s Office to change alongside the county. 

And, in terms of ICE involvement in law enforcement, Rigby said that it is a “serious issue” in Wasatch County. Rigby said in the candidate forum that it has been challenging to work with the federal agency. Rigby said it is the sheriff’s job to ensure that ICE officers are following the law and not violating constitutional rights. 

If he is reelected, Rigby said he hopes to continue to work on a five-year plan that’s continually updated within the Sheriff’s Office. 

“We always challenge ourselves in the upcoming year with new things, and so some specifics have to do with community outreach,” Rigby said. 

Specifically, Rigby said he would like to start interlocal coordination with the Sheriff’s Office and Wasatch County municipalities. 

“The intent is to understand better what it is that in each of the cities or towns we can do to help them at the community level,” Rigby said. 

Rigby added that he would like to prompt more citizen engagement. And, he is looking forward to making further progress in training law enforcement officers. That includes firearm and defensive tactics training — what Rigby calls “core disciplines” in law enforcement. 

When asked what he would most look forward to if elected to a third term, Rigby said it’s making the community safer. That includes monitoring growth, reaching out to new developments and neighborhoods, which he said are all a constant process. 

He also said providing direct services and connecting community members with law enforcement is crucial. 

“We’re always trying to focus on the numbers and make improvements performance-wise. But, really, for a lot of residents, what matters is how they feel and so it’s an important part of having a partnership in the community,” Rigby said. 

Ballots for the primary election were mailed on June 2. The Republican primary election will be held on June 23. All ballots must be received by the county offices by June 23, which is also when in-person voting will take place. 

Secure ballot drop box locations have been open 24 hours a day since June 3 and close at 8 p.m. on Election Day. Early in-person voting will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 15, 16, 17 and 18 at the Wasatch County Administration building. Election Day voting will be held from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The winner of the primary election will face Paul Moore, who recently became an unaffiliated candidate for sheriff, in November.

The post Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby aims to continue serving the community with a third term  appeared first on Park Record.

I think I have that letter, by the way. The one Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby ran over to Summit County authorities this winter concerning an election rival. And others like it.

Anonymous accusations bloom like soiled dandelions before elections these days, just another strategy, a box to check. Plausible sounding but ultimately wacky claims short of making real sense, only too many people appear to buy them at face value.

These typically leave no hint of who wrote the piece, a sly postmark, certainly no return address, usually typed, though not always. Just an envelope addressed to “The Park Record,” or “Editor,” sometimes “Don Rogers” or another specific name.

If the one I have is the one at the heart of the latest investigation of Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby, and I think it is, it contains a couple of pages of heinous workplace accusations against fellow sheriff candidate Eric Mainord.

Reporters would have a hard time checking, given Utah’s open records laws. But a sheriff wouldn’t, not in the same town doing the same work, not working often enough on the same cases, not amid that grapevine, not calling a retired colleague who would know.

The anonymous author claims to have worked with Mainord at the Heber City Police Department and observed or has direct knowledge of quite a litany of professional and personal misbehaviors over three years between 2017 and 2020.

They’d have to have had one helluva lot of access to confidential files for things that would get officers fired and jailed if true, not hired and promoted by another department close by as a major crimes detective. More likely it’s gossip at best, made-up slime at worst. Myself, I’m leaning toward slime at the moment.

Welcome to the Facebook/X age of “democracy.” This stuff plays out in all sorts of races, the national specter having sunk all the way to school board races, city council races, and most notably in this moment, the race for Wasatch County sheriff among three Republicans in the primary June 23.

There’s mud enough now for each candidate this way and yet plenty of time for more. I also have an anonymous letter claiming workplace misdeeds by candidate Jeremy Hales, the county’s emergency services director.

And there’s that other from last year, with some key differences from the others sent to us more recently. This one led to an investigation in 2025 of the current sheriff and the undersheriff that laid out issues throughout the department as viewed by a retired Third District judge.

Rigby endured, I understand in part because the Wasatch County Council was loathe to interfere with an elected official’s oversight of his department. The voters soon enough will pass their own judgment through the election process. This seems prudent.

The differences in the note we received before the investigation last year included the author identifying himself, providing his contact information, making himself accountable, and pretty much containing his complaints to first-hand observation with less obvious exaggeration.

Even letters written this way usually don’t go far, mainly because they tend to be grudges made to sound the worst they possibly can, and most often no rules or laws or procedures were actually broken. But hey, sometimes yes, they lead to real stories with real sources and real documents to back it all up.

This latest episode bears that ironic twist of backfiring on the person who would stand to gain from election mischief, if such were present with the timing.

The story by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project, published through Utah News Dispatch, outlines a criminal investigation into Rigby for giving the anonymous letter about Mainord to Summit County authorities in the runup to the Kouri Richins murder trial the day after Mainord filed his candidacy for Wasatch County sheriff.

There’s nothing in the accusations about Mainord while at the Heber City Police Department before COVID that has anything to do with the trial that ended in conviction for the Kamas woman accused of poisoning her husband. The trial judge ruled the anonymous slurs irrelevant to the case, an easy call.  

Rigby dropping off the letter, apparently with no insight into whether it was more than some campaign mud, does look like a smear of its own against one of the lead detectives in the Richins case. If Rigby has any higher reasoning, he’s not sharing it.

Meantime, Summit County authorities are investigating him for obstruction of justice. According to the Investigative Journalism Project, they are trying to find the person who wrote the anonymous letter, and the story indicates they have at least some suspicion that the accusations were fabricated to begin with.

The investigators appear to view Rigby as trying to discredit a rival. The obstruction charge they are contemplating comes from the extra time consumed in challenging its admissibility when the defense team got a hold of the letter. Investigators have executed search warrants and conducted interviews in their pursuit of the case, an indication they are serious.

They also have interviewed the Heber City police chief during Mainord’s time on the force. It does seem that if anyone knows, this guy would.

Sheriff Rigby could have saved himself some time, and maybe this job, with just a little more investigating of his own before running over that letter. The letter strikes me as fishy enough for that much. But he’s the law enforcement expert.

Don Rogers is the editor and publisher of The Park Record. He can be reached at drogers@swiftcharge.net or (970) 376-0745.

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In the lobby of the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Jared Rigby pointed to framed photos of the county’s different Sheriff’s Office buildings over time. The first was built in 1882. 

That one was two stories high and constructed of brick with a white-railed balcony. Specifically, Rigby pointed to the jail, built as a separate structure behind the Sheriff’s Office, which then doubled as the county administration building. 

That administration building, jail and Sheriff’s Office lasted from 1968 to 1996, when  the current county administration building was built on Heber City’s Main Street. Today’s Sheriff’s Office relocated to the southern end of Main Street, next to the Wasatch County Courthouse. 

The current Sheriff’s Office and county jail has not seen a renovation overhaul since 1996, Rigby said. It’s part of why he is looking forward to phase one of a three-phased plan to renovate the jail and Sheriff’s Office.

The first phase is estimated to cost $2.3 million with no projected tax increases. Assistant County Manager Heber Lefgren said that the County Council has authorized the work but is considering tying some of the upgrades to the existing courthouse expansion project, expected to finish by the end of the summer. 

Phase one will address immediate system and security needs. Phase two would potentially start in three to five years and will address facility needs associated with rapid growth in Wasatch County. It is projected to cost $36 million. Phase three would not start for five years and would include constructing a second jail housing pod to meet future inmate capacity. Plus, site improvements. That final phase is projected to cost $14.2 million.

Lefgren said phases two and three could be paid with bonds costing $2.7 million and $1 million per year for 20 years with 4% interest. 

On a tour of the jail, Rigby discussed what exactly needs to change within the facility. The tour began by walking through the Sheriff’s Office lobby to the jail’s entrance at the eastern end of the facility. 

Jail Commander Lt. Josh Harris opened a secure door, then another locked door to enter the jail. Visitors sign in on a clipboard before entering the facility. 

The jail is shaped like a horseshoe and built around the back of the Sheriff’s Office. There are separate secure entrances on either prong of the horseshoe, separate housing facilities for inmates based on gender, a meeting area for programming and an outdoor yard for recreation. 

A group of women filled the programming room for a narcotics and substance abuse course at the time of the tour. Deputies packed the jail housing center — a control station. 

The housing center is a raised platform with a view of both the men’s and women’s facilities and the programming room. There are multiple monitors — some touchscreen — where deputies can monitor which doors are open or closed, where the inmates are and other safety or security aspects of jail operations. The housing center runs all the interior doors and electronics but not the exterior doors. 

It’s an office for the deputies and, in short, it looks like it has not seen an upgrade since 1996: dated electronics systems, worn-out carpet and a few safety and security pitfalls.

Inmates travel through the jail by being escorted around the housing center. There is easy access to the steps leading up to the monitors and deputies’ desks. 

For deputies like Sgt. Natalie Bateman, who works in the jail and courthouse, there are other kinds of shortcomings. 

“I have to stand on my tiptoes to see over some of the big computer screens,” Bateman said. 

At 5 feet 4 inches tall, Bateman is not the only officer who has an obstructed view of the facilities. The computer screens and the fact that the housing center is on a raised platform means that most officers’ views of the inmate facilities are occasionally obstructed. 

From the housing center control room, deputies should be able to see into each facility to monitor the men’s and women’s areas. Right now, there is only a clear view of the classroom to the right of the housing center unless deputies are standing in the area. 

The first phase of the renovation will help correct that. The remodel will include some reorienting of the control area so officers have a better vantage point. And, the upgrades will include the construction of a new wall around the control center for better security of the area. 

Only a certain number of inmates can be escorted through the halls around the housing area at a time. That’s the only way inmates can travel from their facility to the physician’s facility, the programming classroom and the visitation room (where inmates also appear on WebEx for court hearings). Harris also said one of the challenging parts of the current setup is that there is a fine line to walk between programming and letting inmates out in the yard for outdoor recreation. 

“If they’re playing handball (outside), they can hear that in the classroom, and it’s disruptive,” Harris said. 

And programming is one of the main sticking points for Rigby, who said the jail puts an emphasis on classes that will further the inmates’ ability to better themselves and prepare themselves for when they are ultimately released from the jail. There are school classes, substance abuse classes, group therapy and religious meetings available to the inmates. 

It’s part of the Sheriff’s Office’s plan to help inmates with rehabilitation. There are also opportunities for inmates to have tablet access at all free times during the day. If they can pay for it or apply for a special condition, inmates can have their own personal tablet. They can call or email family members and friends freely — though everything is recorded and monitored. 

There is one laptop in the visitation area (a small, hallway-like room) at a classroom-style desk. That’s where inmates appear for virtual court hearings. The visitation area is also where inmates can visit with family and friends, though Rigby said in-person visits have dropped since tablet use became popular. Now, the jail sees up to five in-person visits per month. 

Rigby said the jailhouse barber also sets up shop in the visitation area. 

The 88-bed facility is home to a mix of county and state prison inmates. Some are sent from the state prison simply because there is not enough room at either the Salt Lake City or Gunnison location. Rigby said most, however, are only in the jail for hours at best. 

“That’s called ‘book and release,’” Rigby said. 

He added that most will make bail and leave the jail in the same day. There are two categories of inmates: pre-sentenced and sentenced. There are those with felonies and those with misdemeanors — the jail houses both. It’s the board of pardons that makes the decision on how long people stay sentenced, Rigby said. Some are let go early. Some serve the full term of their sentence. 

“If they come and can’t meet bail, they stay,” Rigby said.

It’s unusual for inmates to stay longer than a year in the Wasatch County jail. Though, the deputies in the housing center (who know the inmates by name and the length of their sentence) said one county inmate has been there for three years. That’s not typical, though. 

With the rapid growth in Wasatch County, Rigby said it’s a certainty that there will be an increase in the number of inmates who need a bed in the jail.

The three-phased renovation will help the jail adjust to the increased need. Phase two includes expanding booking, evidence, administrative, patrol and investigations areas. There will also be construction of a new medical housing unit. Phase three would not start for at least five years, but it is designed to meet future inmate capacity. 

But Rigby said the renovation will start with the basics. The $2.3 million will not be spent solely on a new wall around the housing area, but also on electronics upgrades. Harris said that the current software needs an upgrade, though it is still operational. 

The jail and the Intermountain Health Heber Valley Hospital is what the county relies on for helping or handling individuals who are suffering a crisis. That’s in regard to mental health, he said. Either people are suffering, unwell and need the hospital or they need to be detained at the jail if they’re a danger to themselves or others. He said upgrades to the jail will help the Sheriff’s Office intervene in more effective ways. 

While the county is addressing the three-phased approach to the renovation, the upgrades are part of the Sheriff’s Office 20-year facility master plan. Rigby said he would encourage emphasis on the needs assessment presented by Lefgren at a County Council meeting on April 8, which indicated that the jail is functionally at capacity and would need to be expanded to continue providing services to the state. 

Plus key space for operations is at or over capacity, including evidence storage, patrol work areas and briefing spaces. 

“It’s not like everything has been way unsafe,” Rigby said, adding that the Sheriff’s Office and jail just needs a well-overdue upgrade. “We need to get into the century we’re in.”

The last upgrade to the Sheriff’s Office and jail was made 10 years ago when the lobby was reorganized and the entrance to the jail was moved. There was also the addition of an evidence room and relocation for the dispatch center, which was only accessible through the jail. Then, there have been ADA upgrades over time. 

“Those renovations were because of growth,” Rigby said. 

The county has approved the use of $1 million from the general fund for phase one. Phases two and three have yet to have funding approval, though there is potential for revenue bonds to be funded largely through public safety impact fees. 

Rigby said now is the time for another round of upgrades and renovations. 

“Families and inmates need better,” Rigby said.

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A man was pronounced deceased at Jordanelle Reservoir on Monday, according to the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office.

The Wasatch County 911 Center received a call of a water-related emergency around 7:45 a.m. involving an individual reported to be on the water, according to a press release. The Sheriff’s Office, Wasatch County Fire District and the Utah Division of Natural Resources located the man.

The man was wearing a life jacket and may have been paddleboarding. He appeared to be recreating alone, the press release said. There is currently no evidence suggesting foul play, and the incident appears to have been accidental.

The identity of the male has not been released, pending notification to his family.

The Sheriff’s Office encouraged the public to use proper safety equipment, avoid recreating alone and be mindful of weather and water conditions, which can change quickly.

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Hundreds of kids who had been buzzing with excitement behind start lines at the Heber City Police Department on Saturday morning were off like Olympic sprinters as soon as they heard the blare of an airhorn coming through the speakers.

Their target? As many of the 12,600 plastic Easter eggs that had been scattered across the lawn as they could get their little hands on.

The lawn was spotless within 10 minutes. 

“If only they were picking up dog (poop) in the backyard,” joked grandfather Troy Palmer from the sidelines.

Palmer lives in Orem but came up to Heber City for the weekend to visit his daughter and son-in-law, Kaylee and Alex Agin, and their four children.

The kids were quick to scurry back to their parents and grandpa, loot in hand, from the various sections of the lawn. Each was designated for a different division: children under 1 year old, those aged 1 to 4, 5 to 10, 11 to 13 and those with physical or intellectual disabilities.

Hunter, 12, recalled the moment the airhorn sounded without warning.

“I was just standing there, and then I just heard, ‘beep!’ and saw everyone else running. I didn’t think it was going to go off like that,” he rambled quickly.

Hunter and his family have attended the Wasatch County first responders’ Easter egg hunt through all three of its iterations, but this event saw Hunter’s best performance. He nabbed about 30 colorful eggs and stuffed them into a plastic grocery bag. His strategy, picking up multiple eggs with each hand instead of one at a time, had paid off. 

Hunter’s 10-year-old brother, Jagger, returned with a much different spoil of war: an egg-shaped, 16-inch-tall Squishmallow. The brown stuffed animal looked like a bat, but its tag revealed it to be a goblin king named Ambergris.

There were over 100 of Ambergris’ brethren spread out across the lawn. It wasn’t quite the “battle” between children Palmer had been expecting. Many kids went home content, their own goblin king in hand.

Heber City Police Sgt. Zac Hendricksen, who organized this year’s egg hunt, explained the Squishmallows were a bit of an Easter miracle, albeit an unconventional one.

About three weeks before the event, a local landlord donated roughly 125 Squishmallows to the Police Department. She had evicted a tenant who had defaulted on rent. That tenant owned a small army of Squishmallows — ultra popular, super-soft collectible plush toys shaped like various animals or foods — that were still in the box, but she apparently refused to retrieve them despite the landlord’s attempts to return them. 

Police officers picked up the Squishmallows from the landlord using the Police Department’s 26-foot-long enclosed motorcycle trailer. According to Hendricksen, the trailer was nearly overflowing with boxes.

“I don’t think we’ll have that opportunity next year,” he said with a laugh.

The first responders’ Easter egg hunt began three years ago as the brainchild of Chief Parker Sever. It’s only gotten bigger each year, expanding last year to add a pancake breakfast. Sever estimated that around 1,000 people came this year. The jam-packed parking in the blocks surrounding the Police Department seemed to support that fact.

Organizing the Easter egg hunt was a collaborative effort between the Police Department, Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office and Fire District, Department of Natural Resources and Utah Highway Patrol. 

The latter agency brought its car crash simulator — two bumper cars mounted on a trailer — to teach kids the importance of wearing a seatbelt while letting them crash into each other at 5 mph. 

Meanwhile, inmates booked into the Wasatch County Jail volunteered to help fill the 12,600 eggs. Local Latter-day Saint youth groups pitched in, too.

“I’ll be honest with you, this is about a month’s worth of work for a lot of people,” Hendricksen said. “So, it’s kind of nice to have it behind us.”

Hendricksen said the egg hunt is a good way for local law enforcement to connect with community members.

“Sometimes people are just scared of cops, so then, when they get to come out and see them in this aspect, it makes them know that we’re all human,” he said.

The egg hunt also allows Sever to operate his “candy cannon,” which uses pressurized air to shoot candy through a muzzle made of PVC pipe. 

“If you put too much pressure, though, it just blows all the wrappers off the candy,” Sever explained.

He was speaking from experience. The contraption, created in his garage a few years ago, involved a lot of trial and error.

Many kids jumped around with excitement as candy shot up in the air and rained down from the sky. But not all were impressed with Sever’s invention.

Pouting as though she were about to burst into tears, 8-year-old Riley Pettee whined, “I don’t like it because something hit me in the head.”

But she cheered right up when she showed off her bag full of eggs. Plastering a smug grin on her face, she bragged that the egg hunt had been “easy.”

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