Attorney general's office probing Uintah School District

VERNAL — The spokesman for the Utah Attorney General's Office has confirmed that a search warrant was served last month on the Uintah School District's office.

Paul Murphy, who did not know the specific date the warrant was served, declined to comment on what authorities were seeking or whether they seized anything from the district office.

"School district officials are cooperating with the investigation," wrote Murphy in a brief e-mail response Thursday to questions from the Deseret News. "The investigation is ongoing and we are not able to comment further."

Uintah Schools Superintendent Charlie Nelson said Friday that district officials have been advised not to make any comment on the probe. Because the district is a subdivision of the state, it is typically represented by the attorney general's office in legal matters.

"We've been instructed pretty specifically not to say anything to anybody," the superintendent said. "We're just trying to do what we're told."

Nelson said no one in the district office has been placed on administrative leave or terminated in the wake of the search warrant's execution at the end of July.

"At this time no charges have been filed; it's just simply an investigation," he said. "That's about all I'm able to say."