(Commissioners and court officials explained that lease money is already appropriated as part of the court system operating budget, whereas building a state building requires getting the project on the Utah State Building Board priority list and waiting years for it to rise to the top of the list.) During the fall campaign, mayors of all 13 municipalities in the county signed a letter supporting the court bonds. Local leaders ranging from Leonard Blackham, former state senator and now Utah commissioner of agriculture, to Sheriff Kevin Holman voiced radio ads urging voters to vote in favor of the bonds.

Even if the bonds pass, the vote will be so close that it won't give commissioners a convincing mandate. Some people have wondered if they'll still go ahead with the project.

The answer seems to be that if the commissioners were going to give up, they would have done so by now. "We're battered. We're bloodied," Commissioner Mark Anderson told the Ephraim City Council a few weeks before the election. But the commissioners were persisting, he said, because they believed the project was in the county's best interests.

In comments just after the election, Jarrett echoed those sentiments. "As important and committed as we are to the project, and because we really do believe this is an important building for the county, I think that if it is even a small margin, majority rules and we would want to move forward."