MONTICELLO — For the second time in more than two years, San Juan County has lost its top prosecutor.

San Juan County Attorney Brittney Ivins is stepping down effective Aug. 16, she told KSL TV. Her term would end in 2027.

Ivins, who was first appointed to the position in 2022, said she is accepting a new job as guardian ad litem for Grand and San Juan counties.

“It’s a rewarding role that I’ve always wanted to have,” Ivins said.

Ivins added that she decided “now was a good time for me to pursue that career” after Cas Melanson White — who has served as a guardian ad litem since 2016 — was recently appointed to juvenile court.

This is the second time in just 28 months that the position of San Juan County attorney has been vacant. Ivins’ predecessor, Kendall Laws, stepped down in March 2022 after more than seven years in office to take a job with the state.

Laws’ resignation — and Ivins’ subsequent appointment — sparked a highly controversial episode in the southeastern Utah county, with a population of just under 15,000.

Ivins was initially among the candidates running for county attorney. But the San Juan County Democratic Party declined to select one, so county commissioners voted to seek other candidates from outside the county — even though a legal opinion warned that doing so would violate state law.

Ivins and one of the other candidates filed a lawsuit, after which a judge ordered the county commission to drop their search.

Ultimately, the San Juan County Commission decided to appoint Ivins as judge to complete Laws’ term, but they were criticized for simultaneously passing a resolution stating that “San Juan County has a long history of violating the civil rights of its Native American citizens.”

In the meantime, the lawsuit was settled through the legal process, with a judge ruling that then-commissioners Kenneth Maryboy and Willie Grayeyes — both of whom lost their re-election bids months later — acted “for both partisan and personal gain.” The ordeal ultimately cost San Juan County taxpayers about $15,000 in legal fees.

Commissioner Bruce Adams, who is still in office, repeatedly opposed the actions of Maryboy and Grayeyes in filling the district attorney position.

Ivins ultimately ran a successful write-in campaign to win a full term as district attorney in November 2022, after the only candidate for the position withdrew when he was appointed judge.