SALT LAKE CITY?The Utah Bar Association has decided that government lawyers aren’t violating ethics rules when they participate in undercover investigations that involve lying.

In an advisory opinion released last week, the Bar Association said the deceit rule doesn’t apply to government lawyers who are involved in lawful undercover operations.

The state’s ethics rules were never intended to thwart legal investigations, the opinion says.

Officials said the ethics opinion focused completely on government lawyers. Other types of undercover work will be addressed on a case-by case basis, the opinion says.