Kent Davis seeks Salt Lake County attorney post

Kent Davis, a Republican and Cottonwood Heights resident, is running for Salt Lake County attorney in the Nov. 3 general election. Democrat Sim Gill is also running for the seat.

Asked in our candidate questionnaire why he is seeking the office, Davis said, "I was asked to take on a problem I'm unusually well suited to solve, and I would have been ashamed to say no because I was too comfortable." He cited "a December 2025 state legislative audit (Report 2025-31)" that he said "found the office lacks written standards, doesn't consistently document its decisions, and has no clear performance metrics to measure whether it's working."

Candidate information

Residence: Davis said in our questionnaire that he and his family "live in Cottonwood Heights."

Family: "My wife, Katie, is an attorney and leads an international conservation nonprofit, and we have two children," Davis said in our questionnaire.

Education: Davis said in our questionnaire that he holds a "Juris Doctor, University of Oregon School of Law, where I was Editor-in-Chief of the Oregon Review of International Law. Executive MBA, Quantic School of Business and Technology. Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, University of Arizona. 2012 Pat Tillman Scholar."

Party: Asked about party affiliation, Davis said, "Republican. But party has no place in a charging decision."

Experience and public service

Davis described his background in our questionnaire: "Corporate Counsel and Director of Cybersecurity at Woodbury Corporation, a Salt Lake City commercial real estate firm." He said, "I was a Deputy District Attorney in the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office from 2017 to 2021, where I prosecuted cases ranging from major crimes to domestic violence to special victims and murders."

He added: "Before that, I was a public defender with the Pima County Legal Defender, an attorney advisor at the U.S. Department of Justice, and a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Stephen McNamee."

On military service, Davis said, "I also served in the U.S. Army with two combat deployments to Iraq … I earned the Bronze Star on that second tour."

He has never held elected office. Davis said in our questionnaire he has "committed to serve no more than two terms if elected to this position." He said he serves on "the Utah Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct" and is "the outgoing chair of the Utah State Bar Cyberlaw Section."

On the issues

Differences from other candidates: Davis said in our questionnaire, "After 16 years under the same leadership, it's time for a fresh perspective." He said, "I will put charging standards in writing, document decisions, and publish performance metrics, including victim advocate caseloads and diversion outcomes, so voters can judge the results."

Data centers and development: Asked how he would advise commissioners, Davis said, "A blanket ban invites costly litigation." He said he would support "conditional use permits, independent water and power impact studies before approval, closed loop cooling instead of drawing on culinary water, noise and setback limits to protect canyon neighbors, and a guarantee that residents do not subsidize a facility's power."

Best advice: Davis said, "A friend and former Force Recon Marine told me to focus on the process, not the outcome. In a prosecutor's office, that's the whole job. A prosecutor's duty isn't to win cases. It's to get them right …"