Reader comments
Emery official pleads guilty to misusing funds

Hasn't anyone explained to the good commissioner that if he has misappropriated public funds he is now disqualified from ever holding public office?
He better hurry and withdraw his guilty plea before its too late

Public officials who misappropriate public funds are disqualified by the utah Constitution from holding office. He better withdraw his guilty plea quick if he wants to keep running.

Why would anyone want to run for public office if they risk this type of backlash from even the most simple of mistakes. The fact is, people make mistakes. Even elected officials make mistakes. From what I know Drew Sitterud and he is doing great work for his county. It would be a great loss to Emery County if they were to lose him over this minor mistake.

Drew Sitterud was released from a six-day sentence in the Emery County Jail on Monday. I�ve thought a lot about this situation over the last few days. I�ve wondered what purpose was accomplished? Was the jail time a show to satisfy some angry citizens? Was the purpose to humiliate Drew and his family? Or was he locked up for political reasons making a future re-election to county commissioner a difficult or impossible victory? I don�t in any way intend to be disrespectful to the justice system, I�m just searching for some justification. After all, it�s been several years since the crime for which Drew was sentenced took place. He testified under oath that the money had been claimed by mistake and it has long since been returned. So it just seems odd to sentence a man with no previous record of dishonesty to time in jail years after the fact, and conveniently right before elections.
If someone like Drew can be put in jail, fined, and given extended probationary time because of bureaucratic miscommunication and error, everyone who works in Emery County politics should be afraid, because no matter how honest they are, they could be next.