The Legislature deals with possible conflicts of interest by requiring lawmakers to file written declarations listing where they may have potential financial conflicts. Those declarations can be found at www.le.state.ut.us. Legislators can also verbally declare a conflict when they vote in committee or on their chamber floors.

Still, some legislators who are retired from their life-long professions list "none" for potential conflicts on their reports, even though they likely are drawing retirement checks from somewhere. And it is common practice for attorney/legislators to refuse to name their law clients, citing attorney/client privilege.

Also, Utah is one of the few states where legislators are required to vote if they are present even on bills where they have clear conflicts of interest. That has resulted in some odd legislative behavior.

In the 1980s before the Capitol was remodeled, the House area had a single woman's restroom behind the chambers. On one particularly tough vote, a female legislator locked herself in there, refusing to come out. The House clerk found a key, unlocked the door and the lawmaker was forced to vote.

Another legislator once hid behind the House kitchen door. A third used to visit the governor's office when she did not want to vote.

Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble, R-Provo, started work on a bill last year to allow legislators to vote present, and not yes or no, when conflicts arose. But it would require the approval of the body's top three officers. However, he abandoned that effort.

Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, said the effort was dropped because "there was no clear demarcation we could identify when you have a direct pecuniary interest."

For example, he said, should a teacher or a person on the board of a charter school vote for the education budget? Valentine said Bramble "found he could not come up with a line that was clear enough demarcation."

Conflicts of interest received extra attention in the past year when Reps. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, and Aaron Tilton, R-Springville, had conflicts with potential construction of a nuclear power plant in the state.

They are members of or chair House committees that deal directly with nuclear energy. Tilton is an energy consultant who is looking into possibly building a nuclear power plant in Utah, while Noel heads a local water company that would sell the proposed plant $1 million of water each year.

Last summer, neither man publicly declared a conflict of interest during hearings on nuclear power until after their involvement was publicized by the media, with each saying they did not believe their private jobs were financial conflicts in that instance.

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Contributing: Nicole Warburton

E-mail: lee@desnews.com; bbjr@desnews.com