Tony Baird appointed interim Cache County Attorney

Attorney Tony Baird has been appointed interim Cache County Attorney to temporarily replace recently departed James Swink in that elected post.

CACHE COUNTY – Attorney Tony Baird has been appointed interim Cache County Attorney by members of the county council.

Baird, who is currently serving as the chief deputy attorney of the county’s Criminal Division, will temporarily replace recently departed County Attorney James Swink.

After being nominated by council chair Gina Worthen, Baird’s temporary appointment was confirmed by a unanimous vote of county council members on Tuesday.

Baird is a graduate of Brigham Young University. He has the longest tenure of any attorney in the county legal office, having been employed there for more than two decades.

Worthen said that Baird’s interim appointment would likely last only about a month, since the Cache County Republican Party has already set a date of Aug. 4 for a special election to nominate up to three potential replacements for Swink.

In a statement following his appointment, Baird said he was “happy to serve” as county attorney, however briefly.

Baird recalled that he has served under three different Cache County attorneys since 1997 and has never regretted coming to work a single day in that period.

Baird jokingly pledged to “keep the ship pointed in the right direction.”

“That will be easy,” he added, “because I work with great people.”

Worthen explained that she nominated Baird for the interim post because he was one of the few chief deputies in the County Attorney’s Office who had not filed to run in the upcoming GOP special election.

That event is scheduled to take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug.4 in the auditorium of Sky View High School in Smithfield.

Under state law, Booth explained, every member of the Cache County Central Committee will be eligible to participate in the special election. That includes precinct chairs, vice-chairs, secretaries, treasurers, executive committee members and elected officials.

The filing period for candidate to fill the vacant county attorney post is now open, according to county GOP chair Chris Booth. Candidates can join the local race by e-mailing a completed application to Cache County GOP leaders not later than 5 p.m. on Friday, July 16.

Application forms can be found at https://cachegop.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/County-Attorney-Filing-Paperwork.pdf

Local GOP members will select the names of up to three county attorney candidates to be forwarded to the Cache County Council for review. The members of that panel will then appoint one attorney to serve out the remainder of Swink’s elected term through Dec. 31, 2022.

Worthen said that selection will likely take during the County Council meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 10.

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