Utah lawmakers push to erase "porn czar" position from state

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers are pushing to erase the state's "porn czar" position that had been created in 2000 to curb pornography in communities and online.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the state House voted unanimously Thursday to pass a bill that would remove the "obscenity and pornography complaints ombudsman" from state code. The measure now goes to the Senate.

In 2001, attorney Paula Houston was hired and given a budget of $150,000 a year, becoming the nation's first "porn czar."

Republican state Sen. Todd Weiler of Woods Cross says the "whole thing was a public-relations nightmare and kind of made Utah the laughingstock of the nation."

The position was axed in 2003 when the attorney general's office had to cut its budget.