The Honorable Sean D. Reyes

21st Attorney General for the State of Utah 

Sean D. Reyes has served as Utah’s 21st Attorney General, it’s first minority statewide elected official and Utah’s top law enforcement officer since 2013. In that role, he was won statewide re-election three times. He graduated summa cum laude from Brigham Young University and earned his law degree with honors from U.C. Berkeley. 

Attorney General Reyes litigated and tried cases for nearly 14 years at his state’s largest law firm, arguing cases before the most prestigious courts in Utah and America. Later, he served as General Counsel for a technology and media company based in Utah’s Silicon Slopes and became a partner in a technology venture fund helping to invest in and run various tech companies. 

Recognized in 2008 as the American Bar Association’s first-ever National Outstanding Young Lawyer, Reyes was highlighted as the top lawyer from among all his contemporaries in the United States for his ethics, success in the courtroom, bar service and pro bono leadership. Since that time he has been honored with dozens of awards ranging from excellence in law, business, politics and humanitarian service. 

During those years, Reyes also served as a Third District Court Judge Pro Tempore and has maintained consistently an AV Preeminent rating from his peers for ethics and skill — the highest possible designation from Martindale Hubbel rating agency while also garnering multiple Utah Best of State Awards for public service.

Reyes is the recipient of a prestigious White House Award of Commendation for his work defending children, veterans and Americans from numerous threats. 

Reyes worked with the Obama White House as a Commissioner appointed by the United States Congress to hold hearings, evaluate and advise members on Latino issues including development of a National Museum for the American Latino. 

Subsequently, General Reyes worked closely with the Trump administration on improving services to military veterans and solving mental health challenges along with fighting human trafficking, the opioid crisis and other transnational crimes. 

As co-founder of the Utah opioid Taskforce, Reyes has worked in a bi-partisan way to heal America as he fights tirelessly to educate and reduce opioid related deaths. His programs have helped Utah move from one of the most impacted states to one of the least. 

Reyes teamed with the DEA in 2020 to capture and prosecute one of the world’s most prolific fentanyl dealers on the dark web, obtaining a life sentence against Aaron Shamo for distributing drugs globally that killed thousands of victims. 

Reyes is also an executive producer of the hit A&E show “Addiction Unplugged” highlighting the opioid epidemic in America as well as successes in overcoming addiction. He has helped lead bi-partisan national multi-state cases against manufacturers and distributors of opioids. 

When it comes to mental health, Reyes was a driving force behind creating the national 988 hotline, the equivalent to 911 for mental health emergencies such as suicide and addiction. He is also at the forefront of holding social media companies accountable for harms to children. 

He is a co-creator of the nationally acclaimed Safe Utah App, which empowers children and adults in crisis to have access to free experts in behavioral and mental health. 

Safe UT has not only provided a lifeline to thousands of Utahns battling depression, suicide, substance abuse and self harm, it has helped thwart hundreds of cases of school violence involving guns, explosives or other weapons. 

Using his venture and technology background, General Reyes has introduced and implemented multiple cutting-edge tools in law enforcement such as Rapid DNA, virtual violence de-escalation training and other award-winning programs. 

Reyes is a global expert in combatting human trafficking. In 2014, he garnered international attention after news leaked of his role as an undercover operative in Colombia for one of the largest sex trafficking takedowns on record, helping to liberate over 120 children in a single day. 

In 2014, he also led the successful statewide investigation and prosecution of Victor Rax, a notorious international gang leader. Rax had trafficked scores of minors in Utah for over fifteen years, but had repeatedly eluded prosecution until General Reyes brought him to justice. 

He has continued to risk his life as an an operative, advisor and instructor for numerous countries worldwide, advocating for the most vulnerable. In the United States, he has investigated and prosecuted some of the most significant human trafficking cases on record.

In 2015, he triumphed in the investigation and prosecution of a half dozen illicit sex massage parlors, crippling the illegal sex trade for many cartels. 

He has also taken down other human trafficking criminal enterprises including labor trafficking, child pornography, illegal adoptions and other types of forced exploitation. 

His office gained further national respect after leading a multi-year investigation and prosecution with other states to convict a county official and trafficker in Arizona who who illegally facilitated international adoptions from the Marshall Islands impacting dozens of states and hundreds of children and families. 

In 2023, his film Sound of Freedom (he was an associate producer) was a box office smash globally as it educated the world on the horrors of human trafficking. The film depicted parts of many undercover operations in which he was personally involved around the world. 

He is a multiple time TedX speaker, and has convened and been a featured speaker at numerous national and international conferences including: Concordia, 1640 Society, Horassis, CES Government, Dubai GITEX, NAAG/IAP, Rocky Mountain Economic Summit, Dialog, AGA Africa, Viva Mexico, Nexus USA and many more. 

AG Reyes leads 28 of his colleagues as nationally as Chairman of the Republican Attorney General Association and has served on the executive committee and as co-chair of the Civil Rights Committee as well as the Human Trafficking Committee for the bi-partisan National Association of Attorneys General. 

He leads the bi-partisan Attorney General Alliance made up of AGs from nearly every U.S. state and territory, working with dozens of nations to combat trafficking and other transnational crime. And he has chaired their cyber crime and Organized Retail Crime initiatives. 

General Reyes has used his experience in technology to help bring innovation to the forefront of combating trafficking in persons, drug crimes and white-collar crimes. His pioneering work in Rapid DNA, Live Time AI aggregation and virtual reality simulations, among many other programs, are helping revolutionize law enforcement in the US and globally. 

As Attorney General, he has been a longtime vocal leader among his peers advocating for more aggressive investigations and prosecutions of White Collar Crime. He organized and got funding for the very first statewide task force in America focused on Organized Retail Crime and partnered with private sector companies and non-profits to prosecute pioneering cases in the field. He and his teams have trained many other states that now try to emulate the success of Utah in combatting ORC and protecting the business community.  

AG Reyes regularly speaks, testifies before and consults with government bodies and private sector companies and associations about innovation, regulation and ethics. He founded an annual innovation conference in Silicon Valley bringing tech founders, lawmakers and regulators together to showcase and discuss tech policy and innovation. 

He has served as a fellow for the bi-partisan Aspen Institute Rodel Scholars leadership program and a fellow for the bi-partisan education work of the Hunt-Kean Institute. He has lectured at prestigious universities, think tanks and NGOs worldwide. 

Through his leadership and innovation, AG Reyes has also established a national reputation as an expert in fighting cybercrime, white collar fraud, ORC, sexual abuse, identify theft and public health threats like the opioid crisis. 

In spite of his roots in and support of the tech industry, General Reyes has also helped lead multiple national cases against the largest tech and social media companies when they have put at risk youth and consumers with their addictive algorithms, anti-competitive practices and unauthorized harvesting of private information. 

The son of a Spanish-Filipino immigrant father and a Japanese-Hawaiian mother, Attorney General Reyes is a former collegiate athlete and MMA fighter. He and his wife of 29 years, Saysha, have six children.