Southern Utah state Rep. Travis Seegmiller enters plea in poaching case

2021 file photo of a deer carcass visible beneath a GMC Yukon SUV as state Rep. Travis Seegmiller, left, speaks with a property owner in rural Washington County, Utah, Aug. 13, 2021 | Submitted photo, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A Southern Utah state representative has pleaded no contest to a charge of taking wildlife while trespassing after he reportedly shot and killed a deer on private property.

In October 2021, the Millard County Attorney’s Office filed three misdemeanor charges against state Rep. Travis Seegmiller, a Republican member of the Utah House of Representatives representing constituents in a portion of the greater St. George area. The original charges included one count each of take-transfer-sell-purchase protected wildlife, discharge of a firearm without permission and within 600 feet of a dwelling and discharge of a firearm from a vehicle.

The charges were filed in connection with an incident reported Aug. 13, when the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Division of Wildlife Resources were dispatched to the Blackridge Ranches development off Old Highway 91 near New Harmony to follow up on a report involving allegations that a doe was shot on private property and out of season.

Court records indicate that on Thursday, the defendant’s attorney, Douglas Terry, brought a motion to the clerk for filing, and on Friday, a plea in abeyance was filed with the court. Under the terms of the plea agreement, the defendant pleaded no contest to an amended charge of taking wildlife while trespassing, while the two counts of unlawful discharge of a firearm were dismissed under the terms of the plea agreement.

The no contest plea must be approved by the court and means the defendant neither disputes nor admits to the charge brought by the prosecution.

According to the agreement, the plea will be held in abeyance for six months, and if the defendant fulfills the terms as outlined in the agreement, then the case will be dismissed. The defendant was ordered to pay $400 in restitution to the “Stop Poaching Fund” and $400 in the plea in abeyance fee. His hunting privileges were also suspended for three years.

The agreement has been signed by both the prosecution and defense and is awaiting the judge’s signature.

The incident reportedly took place near the corner of 2500 South and 2900 East, where residents said the doe died on a gated property.

Charges were originally submitted to the Washington County Attorney’s Office for review. County Attorney Eric Clarke said their office was unable to take the case due to a conflict of interest. So instead, the case was ultimately sent to Millard County Attorney’s Office, where the case was assigned to Special Prosecutor Kaela Jackson.

2021 file photo of Utah state Rep. Travis Seegmiller, right, speaks with a property owner in rural Washington County, Utah, Aug. 13, 2021 | Submitted photo, St. George News

The charges were brought up during an overview of the recent legislative session by Southern Utah’s Sunshine Caucus held at Dixie State University on March 22, where statements reportedly made by Seegmiller during the meeting regarding the case caught the attention of Clarke, who issued a letter to the delegates of Utah House District 73 on March 26.

Clarke told St. George News that following the meeting, he received a number of calls from those in attendance asking him why the charges filed against Seegmiller were being dismissed. When the county attorney inquired further, he said he learned Seegmiller said the case was pending for dismissal.

In Clarke’s letter, a copy of which was provided to St. George News, the county attorney said the class B misdemeanor charges were still in place and went on to state that Millard County is prosecuting the case instead of his office to assure there is no appearance of bias.

Rep. Travis Seegmiller, R-St. George, photo location and date not specified | Photo courtesy of Utah Legislature, St. George News

In 2013, another case involving protected wildlife resulted in three class B misdemeanors being filed against Seegmiller, including providing a written false statement, obtaining a license, permit or tag by fraud, deceit or misrepresentation and wonton destruction of protected wildlife. That case was scheduled for a bench trial in Washington County Justice Court in February 2015, but all of the charges, for which Seegmiller pleaded not guilty, were ultimately dismissed.

The bench trial was held before Judge Douglas Whitlock, and after the state rested its case, the defendant’s attorney, Lamar Winward, asked the judge to dismiss the charges based on an unanswered discovery request submitted to the Washington County Attorney’s Office.

Clarke said at the time of the 2015 hearing, the County Attorney’s Office was going through the process of converting all case files from a printed format to a digital format. He said it was during this conversion process that the discovery request was missed.

Once the state rested its case at the trial, Clarke said Winward advised the court they had never received the requested discovery documents. The defense attorney then asked the court to dismiss the case based on the fact they had no discovery to work with.

The judge agreed and entered a directed verdict dismissing all of the charges against the defendant, according to court records.

When St. George News contacted Seegmiller for comment, he responded via text message stating he sent a letter to delegates responding to Clarke’s comments, a copy of which he said he would send in the text thread. As the time of this report, St. George News has yet to receive any such letter.

St. George News also reached out to the Millard County prosecutor requesting comment, but the requests have gone unanswered.

This report is based on statements from government employees, court records, letters or other personnel and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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