A recently unsealed search warrant reveals new details about the felony obstruction of justice investigation into Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby.
The warrant searched and seized the call and text records of Rigby, Park City Police Chief Wade Carpenter and former Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds.
An attorney representing both Carpenter and Edmunds said neither man did anything wrong. Rigby also denies wrongdoing.
“As I previously said, I acted lawfully and have done nothing wrong,” the Wasatch County sheriff said in a statement through his attorney Aug. 19.
The Summit County Attorney’s Office confirmed to KPCW in May it was investigating Rigby for his alleged misconduct ahead of the high-profile Kouri Richins murder trial.
A sworn statement from the investigator who applied for the warrant paints a clearer picture of what transpired.
The attorney’s office has said its investigation concerns an anonymous letter it received in January, about one month before the Richins trial began. The newly unsealed search warrant shows it contained 13 allegations about Summit County Detective Eric Mainord, who was a possible witness in the trial.
“[The letter] suggested certain incidents that needed to be investigated and alleged ‘serious concerns as to his credibility and reliability as a witness,’” the search warrant affidavit states.
KPCW’s public records request seeking the contents of the letter has been denied due to the active investigation. KPCW has been unable to confirm whether the allegations are true, and Mainord and his attorney declined to comment.
According to the warrant, the 13 allegations in the anonymous letter match the content of a public records request that Edmunds submitted to the Heber City Police Department in December 2025. The former Summit County sheriff was allegedly seeking Mainord’s personnel file.
Prosecutors say a handwriting expert reviewed Edmunds’ request and says handwriting in it was a “possible” match for Rigby’s.
Investigators have interviewed Mainord’s boss, Summit County Sheriff Kacey Bates.
“I am a witness in this case,” Bates told KPCW. “And I am cooperating with the Summit County Attorney’s Office.”
According to the warrant, she says Rigby showed her the same 13 allegations during a meeting at Park City Hospital Jan. 8, the day after Mainord filed to run against Rigby for Wasatch County sheriff.
Rigby had asked Bates to meet him to “talk campaign.” After she arrived at the hospital cafeteria, Rigby allegedly showed her a manila envelope containing the allegations.
The search warrant affidavit states, “Ms. Bates had the clear impression that Mr. Rigby was intimating that unless Mr. Mainord withdrew his candidacy, this information would become public and either directly or indirectly have a negative impact on the prosecution of Kouri Richins.”
Within 30 minutes of meeting Rigby, Bates allegedly received a call from Park City Police Chief Wade Carpenter.
According to investigators, Carpenter also told her that the allegations against Mainord could have an impact on the Kouri Richins trial. The search warrant says both he and Rigby urged Bates to talk to the Summit County attorney about them.
Carpenter had previously called Bates’ chief deputy to discuss Mainord’s personnel file in December 2025. Carpenter allegedly told the chief deputy a public records request would be filed with the Heber City Police Department.
The search warrant states that Carpenter said Rigby wanted the chief deputy to tell Mainord to call Rigby.
The Summit County Attorney’s Office served Verizon Wireless with the search warrant for Rigby’s, Edmunds’ and Carpenter’s cell records Feb. 11. Court records show the company turned over data by May 20, but what the search yielded is not public.
The warrant was sealed and became public Aug. 11.
“The results of the search into Sheriff Edmunds and Chief Carpenter have proven conclusively that there was no wrongdoing by either of these men,” their attorney, Greg Skordas, told KPCW in a statement.
Edmunds, the former sheriff, defended Rigby during a public controversy three years ago when Rigby was nominated to lead Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), the agency that polices the police.
POST Council unanimously voted to rescind Rigby’s nomination Jan. 31, 2023, after a video published by Fox13 called into question his handling of an earlier internal affairs investigation.
Edmunds was among those who advocated for Rigby to the council.
“Jared Rigby is an exceptional man. He worked for me as a deputy sheriff when I was the sheriff of Summit County,” Edmunds said at the Jan. 19, 2023, POST Council meeting. “Worked for me for many years, and the man does his job and does it well.”
At the time, Park City’s Chief Carpenter was the POST Council chair and served on the panel that interviewed prospective POST directors. He was not a voting member of the POST Council.
Rigby resumed his role as sheriff after POST rescinded its offer. He filed to run for a third term this year.
Mainord never testified in the Kouri Richins murder trial. He withdrew from the sheriff’s race in late May. Rigby lost the Republican primary to Wasatch County Director of Emergency Management Jeremy Hales.
The Summit County Attorney’s Office told KPCW it does not comment on active investigations. Rigby has not been charged with a crime.
