Utah

State context

Utah's 29 counties each elect a sheriff. Salt Lake City's Police Civilian Review Board reviews complaints against the Salt Lake City Police Department, a municipal agency, and has no jurisdiction over the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, which has no civilian oversight board of its own. No Utah county has established an independent civilian oversight body for its sheriff's office.

The Utah sheriff's office became a constitutional office on January 1, 2025, when Amendment C, approved by voters in November 2024, added Utah Const. Art. XI, § 10. Before that date, the elected sheriff's office rested on statute alone, under Utah Code Title 17, Chapter 22, which still sets the office's qualifications, duties, and vacancy procedure. Juab County's incumbent currently holds the title Acting Sheriff, filling a vacancy under that statute. In Salt Lake County, the elected Sheriff simultaneously served as chief executive of the Unified Police Department, a multi-city special service district, until HB374 (2023) separated the two offices effective 2024; the Sheriff's Office retained the county jail, warrants and extraditions, and other countywide functions while the Unified Police Department now operates under its own leadership.