COURT SEEKS HELP IN WAKE OF ARREST OF JUDGE HARDING

The arrest and suspension of Judge Ray M. Harding Jr. has the 4th District
Court seeking help from retired judges and other judicial districts to
handle the workload.

"It's been difficult to try to get help to cover the calendar," said Paul
Sheffield, 4th District Court executive. "We've been asking all of our
judges to take extra work. We're scrambling to try and keep it covered."

Several cases have been delayed because of Harding's suspension. Harding
was arrested July 13 after police were called by a member of his family and
allegedly found drugs in the home.

The shortage on the bench has been compounded by the decision to slash
eight clerk positions because of state budget cuts.

Sheffield and John Backlund, the district's acting presiding judge, planned
to appeal to other districts for help on Friday at a meeting of the Board
of District Court Judges.

"Our first priority is to get help from other judicial districts," said Dan
Becker, state administrator for Utah's Administrative Office of Courts.
"We'd rather use visiting judges, because they already are being paid for
their time by their districts. Our fallback position is to rely on senior
judges."

Becker said former 6th District judge Louis Tervort will sit in the 4th
District two days a week. He is one of seven retired judges eligible to
work as senior judges.

Tervort is the closest to Provo and has the most available time, but may
not be the only senior judge to fill in for Harding, Bullen said.

Harding, who was arrested July 13 and released two days later on $10,000
bail, is being paid during his suspension. Like all presiding district
court judges in Utah, he makes $104,707 a year, Bullen said.

Charges against Harding won't be announced for another week or 10 days,
said Kirk Torgensen, a chief deputy to Utah's Attorney General.

"We're waiting to tie up a couple loose ends," Torgensen said. "We have a
couple of interviews we still need to conduct."

Torgensen refused to say whether tests confirmed that white powder turned
over to police by Harding's wife was cocaine, as she told police. Officials
have said a urine sample provided by Harding tested positive for cocaine,
opiates and benzodiazepine, a prescription drug medication.