Unaffiliated candidate Paul Moore announced his run for Wasatch County sheriff this week.
Moore said he decided to run for sheriff after noticing “deficiencies” in the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office. He has decades of experience in law enforcement, and Moore said he has what it takes to address “major problems.”
The candidate said his experience as a U.S. Marine, an Oregon sheriff’s deputy and a state trooper speaks for itself. A recent Heber City resident, Moore said he is ready to serve his community in Wasatch County. Moore also ran for sheriff in Clackamas County, Oregon, in 2024, but lost in the primary.
To qualify for sheriff, Moore had to complete the Police Officer Standards and Training program. POST training is for certification of law enforcement in Utah. It requires background checks, training and physical fitness tests.
Because Moore left law enforcement for more than two years to work for a Fortune 200 company, he was required to retake the certification. He believes, at 64, he is one of the oldest graduates of the training program. He graduated from the law enforcement academy on May 14.
Moore said, in his two decades of law enforcement work, he has learned to “know your authority and use it wisely.”
“Just because you can doesn’t always mean you should,” Moore said. “I think I had great success because I have a heart for service.”
That, he said, is the most important thing when approaching the job as any kind of law enforcement officer.
“You go out there, and you say I’m going to do the best job I can today to serve the citizens that I represent,” Moore said. “Conversely, when that doesn’t seem to be the focus, I’ve seen a lot of problems happen.”
As Wasatch County sheriff, Moore said he would push that service-oriented mindset. That’s one change he believes is necessary in the Sheriff’s Office.
Some of the problems Moore has noticed revolve directly around leadership in the Sheriff’s Office. He cited recent investigations into the Sheriff’s Office and into Rigby himself.
“You don’t want to rush to judgment,” Moore said. “However, when you have the chief law enforcement official in the county who is suspected of felonious crime, that’s a problem right there.”
Moore said sheriffs should be held to a higher standard. He said such accusations and investigations have appeared to create a culture of ill will in the Sheriff’s Office.
“I would change that, and I think it’s those kinds of things that’s made it hard for them to retain people at the Sheriff’s Office,” Moore said.
An unaffiliated candidate, Moore said he believes that a sheriff should not be “beholden to a political party or special interests.” The Clackamas County sheriff election was nonpartisan.
“I think a sheriff should run as nonpartisan because the sheriff’s primary responsibility is standing up for the rights of the citizens in their county,” Moore said. “Without that, you cannot even approach building a foundation of public safety.”
Moore said he is ready to address what he believes to be the top issue in Wasatch County: accountability.
“I’ve seen communities grow like this, and it brings a lot of problems. The sheriff can be the tip of the spear to address those issues,” Moore said.
Moore will face the winner of the primary election in November. Both Wasatch County’s Emergency Management Director Jeremy Hales and incumbent Sheriff Jared Rigby will appear on the primary ballot this June.
Moore will not appear in the June primary because he is an unaffiliated candidate. He will appear on the November election ballot.
On Wednesday, sheriff’s candidate and Summit County detective Eric Mainord withdrew from the race. Unaffiliated candidates can file to run for office until June 15, according to Utah law.