Nancy Workman was acquitted in her felony trial last week, but she still has the little matter of what to do with $175,000 in leftover campaign funds.

Karl Hendrickson, chief deputy Salt Lake County district attorney, wrote Workman a letter this week advising her that, by county ordinance, she is not allowed to use the money for anything other than "political purposes." In other words, she could use it to support or oppose other political candidates, but not, say, to finance a trip to Lake Powell — or, more to the point, to reimburse her legal fees, for which she has mortgaged her house.

"It is this office's conclusion that, in order to comply with the restrictions imposed by the ordinance, the money transferred from your campaign committees to you may be spent only for political purposes . . . . (and) may not be commingled with your personal funds," Hendrickson wrote.

The letter was also addressed to Diana Lee Hirschi and Steven Shamy, County Council candidates who also wound up with surpluses.

Workman last month closed her campaign account, withdrew the remaining $174,873.45 and put it into a savings account.

"Nancy has put it in a separate account that is not mingled with any of her funds, and she's not going to do anything with it until this is settled," Workman attorney Greg Skordas said.

Skordas says that according to state law and federal tax law Workman is free to do whatever she wants with the money, under the condition that she pay taxes on it should she use it for personal purposes.

As for the county ordinance in question, Skordas says it doesn't apply.

"What that county ordinance says is exactly right: A candidate may not spend it, may not use it for nonpolitical purposes, but once she bailed out, she's not a candidate any more. She is no longer a candidate, (so) she can do anything she wants with it."

On the other hand, Gavin Anderson, deputy district attorney, noted that the ordinance says a person remains a candidate until his account reaches a zero balance, meaning Workman remains a candidate until all the money is spent for political purposes.

"If she had legitimate personal campaign costs that she had to repay that would be OK, but she can't cease to be a candidate until she closes out the account," Anderson said.

Skordas said the money will sit, quietly earning interest, until the question is resolved.

"I think cooler heads will prevail — most everybody seems to think she can do anything she wants with it — but if it turns out (District Attorney David) Yocom's right she'll give it to whatever," he said.

And Anderson's comment is telling: "You'll notice that the letter doesn't say anything about prosecuting her. We're going to rely on her . . . to do what the law requires."

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E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com