MORGAN -- Morgan County Council administrator Garth Day is the subject of a sheriff's department investigation into financial improprieties and has been placed on unpaid leave.
"The Morgan County Council has learned that there may have been some improprieties with certain financial accounts operated by the county," Council Chairman Sid Creager said in a press release. "Because of the nature of the investigation, Council Administrator Garth Day has been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending the final results of the investigation."
Reached by telephone on Wednesday, Day, 41, declined to comment on the investigation and referred all questions to his attorney, Brad Smith.
Smith did not respond to a request for comment.
In the same press release, Creager apologized to County Treasurer Bonnie Thomson for a public exchange between the two at the last council meeting.
"During our last council meeting, a heated exchange took place between Bonnie and myself that was based on information the council had received at that time," Creager said.
"I apologize for how I comported at that meeting. I am confident that she and I have moved past our differences and I am hopeful that the community can move on as well."
Thomson had become concerned when $265,000 of a $1.5 million road bond was spent without her knowledge.
An audit presented two weeks ago by Wood, Richards & Associates indicated no inappropriate spending activity in connection with the road bond. Auditor Lynn Wood called the fund a fully balanced account with proper transactions.
The sheriff's department and council members are equally tight lipped, saying they will not comment beyond the press release.
It is not known whether questions over the road bond fund or the audit are related to the investigation Creager announced Tuesday night.
"The Morgan County Council fully supports this investigation and will cooperate to see that it is thoroughly and properly carried out," the release states.
Day was hired as the first-ever Morgan County council administrator in June 2008, amid disagreements about whether the county's form of government legally includes room for a council administrator position. At that time, his annual salary was $77,500 with a $350 monthly transportation allowance and $100 cell phone allowance.
On Aug. 4, Day resigned from the Morgan position, officially giving a required 90 days notice. Before the investigation began, he was planning to leave on Nov. 1.
Day's resume is peppered with experience in Top of Utah government positions. He has served as Box Elder County community development director, Cache County community development director, South Ogden city planner and building inspector, North Ogden community development director and assistant city manager, and Ogden City Council member.
He is currently a member of the Elwood Town Council in Box Elder County, where his term is set to expire in 2012. He also currently serves as a contract economic development consultant with South Salt Lake City, hired in January 2010.
Day, a graduate of Clearfield High School, considers himself an urban planner. He served four years in the U.S. Navy on submarine duty before earning a political science degree at Weber State University in 1994.
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