This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

It seems that frustrations and disagreements between investigative agencies in high-profile Utah cases are becoming an epidemic.

While Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill and Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings expressed disgust this week with federal meddling in their investigations of former Attorneys General Mark Shurtleff and John Swallow, the Salt Lake City Police Department has pulled out of the probe of Rep. Justin Miller, D-Millcreek, because of frustrations with Salt Lake County.

The SLCPD was the lead investigative agency into an allegation by Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams that Miller, who was McAdams' campaign manager and later his associate deputy mayor, took $24,000 from McAdams' campaign account.

The FBI was involved in the probe, but now that the SLCPD has withdrawn, the matter has been turned over to the federal agency, say sources close to the case.

Gill and Rawlings suggested Wednesday the feds take over the prosecutions of Shurtleff and Swallow because of interference from the U.S. attorney's office in their cases, which they fear could undermine their ability to go after the two former attorneys general.

They were especially critical of the Federal Election Commission's lawsuit against whistleblower Jeremy Johnson, who told investigators, under the promise of immunity, that he funneled illegal campaign contributions — at Swallow's urging — to Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Shurtleff's short-lived bid to run for the U.S. Senate.

In the Miller case, sources say the SLCPD pulled out because of pressures from Gill's office and McAdams' office to speed up the investigation and share with the county evidence gathered from computer hard drives of county officials.

Miller, who filed a notice that he would sue over his dismissal from the county, has said he was fired for pointing out conflicts of interest in the mayor's office in awarding contracts to the lobbying and public-relations firm Exoro, which helped McAdams in his campaign.

But Miller has offered little evidence to counter the claim he was fired because of the missing campaign money.

Miller also alleged the SLCPD was slow to investigate his claims of a conflict because former Police Chief Chris Burbank is in a relationship with Maura Carabello, a partner in The Exoro Group.

Burbank has said he turned over the allegations to detectives in the department and had nothing to do with it after that.

SLC hypes insurance • Salt Lake City residents yet again have received a notice from the national insurance company HomeServe, the city-endorsed insurer that is selling policies to cover the breaking of sewer pipes going into homes.

Residents have also gotten notices from the city's Public Utilities Department reminding them that sewer breaks are their responsibility to fix and that it's expensive. The city has hyped HomeServe as the insurer to get and, yes, the city gets a kickback from the company for every policy it serves.

Government immunity? • Don't expect homeowners on the north side of Michigan Avenue between 1100 East and 1300 East to buy the $6.99-per-month plan from HomeServe. If the sewer line going into their homes from the main pipe in the street happens to rupture, it still is on city property and the city's responsibility.

Some of the homeowners got a survey a few years ago and learned that their front yards actually rest on city property. For some reason, when the streets were laid out, the private homeowners' property lines on Michigan Avenue end practically at their front porches. So the sewer lines are the city's problem.