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A state judge has set a June 15 date for a hearing to determine whether former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff will stand trial on bribery and corruption charges filed in connection with the scandal that rattled Utah's top law enforcement office.

Third District Judge Randall Skanchy set the five-day preliminary hearing date during a short scheduling conference Monday afternoon.

"We're excited to get a June date," Shurtleff told reporters after the hearing. "We're excited to go forward. It's time to get this evidence before a judge."

The preliminary hearing will come 11 months after Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill and Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings jointly filed multiple felony charges against the former Utah top cop and his handpicked successor, John Swallow.

"For Mark, sooner is better than later," Shurtleff's defense attorney Richard Van Wagoner said Monday. "His name has been vilified in the press, and he wants to hear what the state claims it has, what it thinks it can prove and really start this process of, then, clearing his name."

The June hearing will come a week after Swallow's own five-day preliminary hearing, set to begin June 8.

The men — both Republicans — were initially charged as co-defendants in a single case, which later was separated.

Rawlings, who has been deputized as a special assistant attorney general, is prosecuting Shurtleff and Gill has Swallow's case. Different judges are presiding over the two cases.

Although court documents lack most of the specific details, prosecutors contend Shurtleff and Swallow cultivated a pay-to-play environment inside the attorney general's office, which included taking bribes to protect or aid big campaign donors.

Shurtleff and Swallow have maintained their innocence.

Neither is required to enter a formal plea to any charges until after their respective preliminary hearings.

Shurtleff, 57, was Utah's attorney general for a dozen years. He is charged with nine felonies, including soliciting bribes, witness tampering, evidence tampering, obstructing justice, accepting a gift, and accepting employment that would impair judgment. A single racketeering charge was dropped in November.

The charges include six second-degree felonies and three third-degree felonies. Under Utah law, second-degree felonies carry a punishment of one to 15 years in prison; third-degree felonies are punishable by terms of zero to five years.

Rawlings, who declined comment after Monday's hearing, is expected to file an amended information in the case, but it remains unclear how soon his office might wrap its investigation.

"I expect it would be fairly soon," Van Wagoner said, adding that while he has been in talks with Rawlings, he is not sure what might be included in a new set of charges.

"There has not been a [plea] offer," Van Wagoner told reporters after the hearing. "And I think, with my client, that would be a waste of time."

Shurtleff interjected: "You can say that again."

Swallow, Shurtleff's former chief deputy, was elected as attorney general in 2012, but resigned amid allegations of misconduct less than a year later.

Swallow, 52, is charged with 12 felonies and two misdemeanors, including multiple counts of receiving or soliciting bribes, tampering with evidence, obstructing justice, accepting a gift and participating in a pattern of unlawful conduct.

jdobner@sltrib.com