Ex-Uintah County officer sentenced after handcuffing wife during argument

VERNAL — A former corrections officer at the Uintah County Jail was ordered on Thursday to spend 31 more days in custody after being convicted of unlawful detention, a class B misdemeanor, for handcuffing his wife during an argument.

He said he wanted to “keep things as peaceful as I could,” while she was “out of control” and trying to hit him.

During his sentencing, James Smuin said he used the handcuffs “exactly how I was taught to.” He wanted to try to get her to calm down, and if that didn’t work, he planned to call dispatch and get an officer to help, he explained at his hearing.

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Eighth District Court Judge Gregory Lamb told Smuin in the future he should call law enforcement to get an independent, rational person to help — saying that being involved in a heated argument is not the right time to use handcuffs.

“This is not how I think most law enforcement would advise anybody — even who is a law enforcement officer — to handle the case,” the judge said.

Smuin, 35, was ordered to spend 45 days in jail and 18 months on probation after pleading no contest to the charge, and was given credit for the 14 days he had already spent. The judge sentenced him to six months in the Uintah County Jail, but suspended that sentence. He also said the remaining jail time could instead be served in home confinement.

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Deputy Uintah County attorney Jarrell Dillman said the woman was pinned to the ground and that Smuin used his body weight to keep her from leaving as she was crying.

Charging documents said the wife talked to police in March about domestic violence over the last few years, including actions that left multiple holes in the wall and throwing dishes at her. Charges said Smuin admitted to restraining the woman in an interview later, but said he held her in handcuffs for between 20 seconds and three minutes, and admitted that he had left marks on her between five and 10 times.

When he was initially booked, Smuin was transported to the Duchesne County Jail because of his employment.

Smuin pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor, meaning he decided not to contest that at some point in November 2025 he escalated an argument by pushing his wife to the ground while three children were present and then put her in handcuffs while questioning her for 20 minutes.

The plea statement said one of the children grabbed the handcuffs for Smuin.

Three counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child and one count of assault, class B misdemeanors, were dismissed as part of a plea deal. He was also initially charged with kidnapping, a second-degree felony, but that charge was reduced to unlawful detention in the plea deal.