The Salt Lake County Council wants to revamp county election law to put candidates and elected officials on a level playing field.

The move comes after a team of prosecutors on Wednesday declined to launch a full-blown investigation into accusations of coerced third-hand campaign contributions to Lohra Miller, the Republican candidate for district attorney.

Prosecutors from the Salt Lake District Attorney's and Utah Attorney General's offices decided that criminal penalties for violating the county's proxy contribution law only apply to elected officials. Since Miller is just a candidate and not an incumbent, the prosecutors said it would be a waste of public tax dollars to investigate a matter that isn't even a crime.

But the County Council plans to consider tweaking the campaign-contribution law after the Nov. 7 election, according to several council members, including both Democrats and Republicans.

"What's fair is fair," Councilman Randy Horiuchi said Thursday. "Something needs to be done."

The problems started after a former Wasatch Property Management employee said she was one of 12 employees who received $2,000 bonuses and were then allegedly ordered to sign the cash over to Miller's campaign fund.

County law says donors cannot make a contribution with someone else's funds, and if elected officials knowingly accept money from a contractor who works for the county, they could be charged with a class B misdemeanor. That charge carries a possible penalty of up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The council wants to find a way to make the penalty equal for all candidates, Horiuchi said. But if Horiuchi had his way, no criminal penalties would be imposed at all, unless there was an egregious violation of election law. Instead, he wants to possibly charge violators a fine.

The council will also consider how to change the law so that companies — including those that are not contractors for the county — found in violation of the proxy contribution code can be criminally charged, Horiuchi said. Wasatch Property Management does not have a contract with Salt Lake County.

University of Utah political science professor Matt Burbank said that even though Miller did not violate the law, voters will remember.

"The question here might be, 'How is this person conducting her campaign, and is it all above board?"' Burbank said. "If voters have questions about that, if they even think something is wrong here, they are usually not going to vote for that person."

John Flynn, a former University of Utah law professor who initially filed a complaint with the attorney general's and district attorney's offices asking for an investigation into the proxy contributions, said that although Miller didn't break the law, she violated the spirit of the law. Voters need to know who is giving money to candidates, he said.

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