Led by Attorney General Derek Brown, the Executive Division decides on legal actions for the Office and guides its overall direction. The team includes the Solicitor General, Deputies (Civil and Criminal), Chief Deputy, General Counsel, Administrator, and Communications and External Relations directors.
Chief Deputy Attorney General and General Counsel
Daniel Burton
Chief Deputy Attorney General and General Counsel
Daniel Burton is the Chief Deputy Attorney General and General Counsel. As Chief Deputy under AG Brown, he leads the Executive Division and manages the office’s legal, communication, and legislative efforts.
Daniel provides comprehensive advice to the Attorney General on policy and legal matters while assisting in the effective management of the office. He collaborates closely with the Legislature to develop sound policies and budgets, playing a crucial role in passing laws that benefit Utah’s citizens. Additionally, Daniel formulates strategic initiatives that address Utah’s interests in public lands, privacy, social media, law enforcement, public safety, natural resources, and energy. He offers informed guidance on legal cases and communication strategies and represents the office with distinction on various boards, task forces, and commissions.
Before joining the Office in 2015, Daniel was senior corporate counsel at the Woodbury Corporation. He is a native of Utah and graduated from Brigham Young University. He earned his law degree from the SJ Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. His wife, Brittany, also graduated from the same university, and they have three daughters.
Solicitor General
Stanford E. Purser
Solicitor General
Stan was appointed Solicitor General in March 2024. He has worked in the Office of the Attorney General since 2011, first as an attorney in the civil appeals division for four years and then as the civil appeals division director and Deputy Solicitor General for more than eight years. Before joining the Office, Stan practiced at two large law firms, including K&L Gates, where he focused on civil appeals and complex commercial litigation. In his more than twenty years of legal practice in the private and public sectors, Stan has handled, been involved with, and consulted on a wide variety of cases and issues in trial and appellate courts at both the state and federal levels.
Stan graduated cum laude, with University Honors, from Brigham Young University. He then graduated magna cum laude and was a member of the Order of the Coif and Law Review from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University. After law school, he worked as a judicial clerk on the Utah Supreme Court for Justice Stewart and Justice Durrant. He then clerked for Judge Monroe McKay on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Stan and his wife Mary—also a BYU undergrad and law school graduate who clerked on the Fourth District Court and the Utah Supreme Court—have four children.
Civil
Mark E. Burns
Civil Deputy Attorney General
Mark E. Burns has dedicated 29 years of service to Utah’s citizens through his Office of the Attorney General work. Since becoming Division Director in 2013, he has led the Highways & Utilities Division, which provides legal counsel to some of the state’s largest agencies. Under his leadership, Burns’ division has provided strategic legal counsel to complex state agencies, including the Utah Department of Transportation, the Department of Public Safety, the state’s utility regulatory authorities, and the Utah Transit Authority.
Burns has extensive experience in eminent domain litigation, real property management and acquisition, infrastructure and capital improvement projects, public procurements, ethics compliance, and government transparency laws.
Beyond his division leadership, he has represented the Governor’s Office in extradition matters, served as lead counsel in Utah’s Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement litigation, and contributed to the Judiciary as a volunteer small claims court judge. His career reflects a steadfast commitment to public service and the state of Utah.
Criminal
Stewart Young
Criminal Deputy Attorney General
While in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Utah, Stewart Young served as Senior Litigation Counsel and Training Officer. He also worked in the Financial Fraud Section, the Violent Crime Section, and the Narcotics Section. He has been lead or co-counsel on twenty felony jury trials and 22 appellate briefs. Young recently returned from Amman, Jordan, where he served as a counterterrorism prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Young has investigated and prosecuted public corruption, bribery, mail/wire fraud, Ponzi schemes, criminal tax violations, narcotics trafficking, and continuing criminal enterprise. He has also trained federal prosecutors at the National Advocacy Center and been responsible for large-scale investigations involving multiple defendants relating to complex white-collar and securities violations, narcotics trafficking, and violent street gang-affiliated conspiracies.
Young, a Stanford Law School and Princeton University graduate, started his prosecutorial career as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of California. He spent several years as a tenure-track law professor at the University of Wyoming College of Law, teaching classes on criminal procedure, criminal adjudication, and border crimes. He also clerked at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for Judge Paul Cassell at the United States District Court for the District of Utah.
Administrative
John Dougall
Administrator
John Dougall is a former State Auditor who took office on January 7, 2013 and served until January 2025. He was recognized for enhancing transparency in state finances and increasing accountability within government operations.
Before his role as State Auditor, Dougall served for a decade in the Utah House of Representatives, ultimately holding the House Vice Chair of Executive Appropriations position. He focused on evaluating government programs and agencies, advocating for tax reform, transparent governance, performance management, and fiscal responsibility. Throughout his legislative career, he held various leadership positions, including chair of the House Revenue & Taxation standing committee, chair of the House Ethics standing committee, and co-chair of the Health & Human Services Appropriations subcommittee.
In addition to his political career, Dougall has worked in the technology sector, where he held management and technical positions in both large companies and small start-ups. He earned his Master of Business Administration from Brigham Young University in 2000, as well as a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the same institution. Dougall is also expected to graduate from Syracuse College of Law in May 2025.