[Updated 2:30 PM 12-11-2013]: Added American Lands Council 2013 Questionnaire Attorney General Candidates Transfer of Public Lands Responses by Brain Tarbet (embedded below).
A candidate for Utah Attorney General, Brian Tarbet is seeking appointment by Governor Gary Herbert to replace former Utah Attorney General John Swallow, who resigned December 3. This is the seventh in a series of brief profiles on those who have filed to run for one of three Republican nominations to Governor Gary Herbert’s for appointment the spot. As information on each individual comes out, I’ll update the profiles here.
Though he told Doug Wright that he didn’t have any interest, a couple of days later he was a candidate for Utah Attorney General; Brian Tarbet is acting Attorney General after his boss, John Swallow, stepped down early last week. One of Swallow’s two deputies in the office, Tarbet is the one person close to Swallow in the office that most people seem willing to consider as distinctly separated from Swallow’s scandals, with supporters and opponents alike speaking of Tarbet in favorable tones.
During the brief time that Tarbet served as Deputy under Swallow in the Utah Attorney General’s office, Tarbet was General Counsel for the office, something of an in-house counsel role. It was in this position in September that he came under some criticism for failure to impose a “litigation hold” to prevent the destruction of documents until some eight months after evidence of multiple investigations into Swallow came to light. On September 25, 2013, five days after receiving subpoenas from the Utah House Special Investigation Committee, Tarbet instructed staff and Swallow to cooperate with the investigation and keep pertinent documents.
Regardless of the small connection to the Swallow scandal, Tarbet’s service in the Utah National Guard and distinguished reputation have bolstered his place among the candidates for appointment by Governor Herbert and Tarbet is sure to be one of the leading contenders this Saturday when the Republican State Central Committee meets to vote for three names to forward to the Governor.
[Truncated from Utah Attorney General website]
Major General Brian L. Tarbet was appointed to the position of General Counsel by John Swallow in January of 2013. Tarbet is a retired US Army Major General who commanded the Utah National Guard for 12 years of a 40 year military career. General Tarbet previously served as the Division Chief of Tax & Revenue in the Attorney General’s Office which included service as counsel to the Utah State Tax Commission.
Tarbet earned his certificate as part of the National Security Fellowship from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He graduated from The University of Utah with his Juris Doctorate and earned his B.A. in Political Science & Business from Utah State University.
Tarbet served as Adjutant General of Utah from October of 2000 to September of 2012, with responsibility for the 7,500 Soldiers and Airmen of the Utah National Guard.
AG Questionnaire Brian Tarbet Responses
About Daniel Burton
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