SALT LAKE CITY -- One day after Utah's police board enacted greater sanctions for officers caught having sex on duty, a federal appeals court has ruled a Utah town had the right to reprimand an officer for an off-duty affair.The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld a decision by LaVerkin, Utah, city leaders to verbally reprimand police Officer Sharon Johnson for an extramarital affair she had while out of town for a training seminar.Johnson had argued because the affair occurred off-duty and town leaders may have leaked information to the media, LaVerkin violated her constitutional right to due process. The appeals court found Johnson failed to show LaVerkin violated her rights, and said the town has an interest in requiring its officers to have a discreet and appropriate sex life.Sexual misconduct -- some of which has been criminally prosecuted -- is the most common reason Utah peace officers are suspended or booted from policing.In addition to disciplining 19 officers this week, the police board increased the penalty for officers caught having consensual sex while on duty. Those officers can now be suspended from law enforcement for three years, with mitigating or aggravating factors detracting or adding to the term. The previous punishment was two years.The board on Monday let stand a decision earlier this year to revoke the certification of former Helper, Utah, police. Chief George Zamantakis was found to have had an affair with a former secretary, and later lied about it to state investigators. Those disciplined Monday include a chief of police who ran a reserve corps that violated state law, and two former officers with the Department of Corrections. Travis B. Davis, 35, was convicted in January of six felony counts of child sex abuse or attempted abuse. William F. Lawrence, 31, was convicted in December of one felony count of forcible sex abuse.The board revoked the certification of Michael E. Ballard, who in January was convicted of a misdemeanor for sex with a jail inmate. Ballard was one of three Washington County, Utah, jail guards convicted in a 2006 sex scandal at the jail.E-mail Nate Carlisle at ncarlisle(at)sltrib.com.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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