The Office of Public Guardian is the Utah state agency responsible for providing public guardianship and conservatorship services to incapacitated adults.

Description:
The Office of Public Guardian (OPG) responds to longstanding concerns about incapacitated adults who have no family members or friends to serve as their guardians. Sometimes people become incapable of making minimally adequate decisions about medical treatment or everyday life and as a result their health or safety are in jeopardy. Under Utah law, a court may appoint a "guardian" to make decisions for a person when this happens.
However, it is important to remember that many persons who experience these problems are quite capable of making their own decisions and do not need a guardian. The ultimate goal of an OPG guardian is to help the incapacitated adult gain or regain the ability to make their own decisions, so that they no longer need a guardian.
In making decisions for incapacitated persons, the OPG recommends that guardians follow the decision-making guidelines of the National Guardianship Association (NGA). Under these guidelines, an OPG guardian has a responsibility to determine what the incapacitated person would want if the person were capable of making decisions, and then to try and carry out the person's wishes.
OPG guardians always have a legal duty to make decisions that protect the rights, interests, and well being of incapacitated persons. Guardians must not substitute their own opinions about what is best for the person unless the OPG guardian cannot determine what the incapacitated person would want, or the person's choice cannot be honored under the law or poses unacceptable risks for the person.

History:
The OPG was established by the 1999 Utah Legislature in response to the results of a study which suggested that as many as 1100 incapacitated Utahns needed but lacked a guardian.

Contact people:

Pattijean Sanchez, Volunteer Coordinator, (801) 538-4309 Lori Gawf, Director, (801) 538-4564, (email) Michelle Morris, Administrative Secretary, (801) 538-8255, (email)

Main office number: (801) 538-8255
TDD number: Dial 7-1-1 for Relay Utah
Office fax number: (801) 538-8243

Languages Spoken: English, Spanish, French, German, Sign Language, Japanese

Address:

120 North 200 West #329 Salt Lake City, UT 84103 This location is handicap accessible (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.opg.utah.gov