It isn't often that a police chief can block the action of an entire state legislature. Yesterday, however, Ogden, Utah Police Chief Jon Greiner stopped a ticket quota bill aimed directly at him from being considered by the state Senate (view legislation). Greiner, a newly elected state Senator representing the Ogden area, cast the deciding vote on the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee where the measure failed 2-2.

Representative Neil Hansen (D-Ogden) had introduced a bill that had passed the House to prohibit municipalities, counties, sheriffs and police chiefs from requiring officers to issue a certain number of tickets in a given amount of time. The measure was written after Mayor Matthew Godfrey ordered Greiner to fire a police officer who had criticized ticket quotas. As a handful of committee members missed yesterday's vote, supporters may attempt a second time to pass the measure.

Greiner's holding of the two public jobs is controversial. The U.S. Office of the Special Counsel ruled on October 16 last year that Greiner could not be both police chief and senator. The federal Hatch Act prohibits government employees who administer federal grant money from holding elected political positions.