SALT LAKE CITY — After hours of debate and deliberation, the Utah State Records Committee has ruled that the calendars of 66 government employees must be released to FOX 13 News under Utah’s public records law.
FOX 13 investigative reporter Adam Herbets filed requests for public calendars in February as the Utah State Legislature was in the process of changing the law.
Some of our requests were filed just hours before Governor Spencer Cox signed Senate Bill 240. The State Records Committee ruled 5-1 that SB 240 is not retroactive.
In response to our requests, a few government entities supplied their calendars without a fight. Many of them appealed.
The State Records Committee listened to hours of testimony from Herbets and from government attorneys who sought to keep the records private.
Approximately seven months later, we are still waiting for the public calendars of dozens of public officials, listed below:
- Adam Herbets v. Utah Attorney General (2024-65)
- Sean Reyes
- Adam Herbets v. Utah Attorney General (2024-90)
- Spencer Austin
- Ric Cantrell
- Brian Tarbet
- Daniel Burton
- Leo Lucey
- Nate Mutter
- Richard Piatt
- Adam Herbets v. Utah State Board of Education (2024-62)
- Sydnee Dickson
- Adam Herbets v. Utah Department of Public Safety (2024-88)
- Jess Anderson
- Michael Rapich
- Kristy Rigby
- Jimmy Higgs
- Travis Rees
- Adam Herbets v. Utah Department of Corrections (2024-89)
- Brian Redd
- Dan Blanchard
- Alex Garcia
- Adam Herbets v. Salt Lake City (2024-68)
- Erin Mendenhall
- Mike Brown
- Adam Herbets v. Utah County (2024-64)
- Brandon Gordon
- Tom Sakievich
- Amelia Powers Gardner
- Mike Smith
- David Leavitt
- Jeff Gray
- Adam Herbets v. Heber City (2024-66)
- Dave Booth
- Heidi Franco
- Kelleen Potter
- Parker Sever
- Phil Kirk
- Adam Herbets v. Centerville City (2024-67)
- Clark Wilkinson
- Brant Hanson
- Paul Child
- Adam Herbets v. South Salt Lake (2024-69)
- Cherie Wood
- Danielle Croyle
- Jack Carruth
- Adam Herbets v. Cottonwood Heights (2024-72)
- Mike Weichers
- Tim Tingey
- Robby Russo
- Adam Herbets v. West Valley City (2024-91)
- Karen Lang
- Colleen Jacobs
- Roxeanne Vainuku
- Adam Herbets v. West Jordan (2024-95)
- Dick Burton
- Ken Wallentine
- Adam Herbets v. Davis County (2024-73)
- Bob Stevenson
- Randy Elliott
- Lorene Kamalu
- Troy Rawlings
- Kelly Sparks
- Adam Herbets v. Vanguard Academy (2024-63)
- Charles Reynolds
- John Williams
- Kathryn Johnson
- Joy Palmer
- Marie Evans
- Jonie Jenkins
- Shiree Reynolds
- Eric Freeman
- Darren Jenkins
- Daniel Jessop
- Scott Kingston
- Paul Kingston
- Debby Llewelyn
- Kimly Mangum
- Grace Mitchell
- Brad Nelson
- Benjamin Robinson
The State Records Committee stated it would be inappropriate to apply SB 240 to public record requests filed prior to the law changing.
Bountiful Police Chief Ed Biehler, who serves on the committee, disagreed with the rest of his peers – stating he felt the change to the law was “procedural” and not “substantive.”
The government is allowed to redact private appointments and charge a “reasonable fee.” The government is not allowed to redact appointments related to the conduct of the public’s business.
Each entity is allowed to appeal the decision in district court.
Sen. Curt Bramble, who sponsored SB 240, previously stated to members of the Utah Senate that the intent of the bill was not to impact current cases.
This is now the fifth time the Utah AG’s Office has lost a case to an investigative journalist before the State Records Committee related to calendars.
Four of those five cases have centered around the public calendar of Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes.
One of the five cases, Annie Knox vs. Utah AG’s Office, was appealed and upheld in 3rd District Court by Judge Patrick Corum.