SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah State Records Committee has publicly admonished the Utah County Sheriff's Office after learning of the way it mishandled a request for public records from FOX 13 News.
“The committee, in the strongest terms, feels that Utah County did not initially fulfill its obligation under the law," the committee said, voting unanimously.
Some members of the committee stated they were "more than disappointed," even "disgusted" with UCSO's lack of transparency, which is contrary to the intent of Utah's Government Records and Management Act (GRAMA).
The records request was for police reports related to the criminal investigation of Tim Ballard, the former CEO of Operation Underground Railroad.
Background
Ballard is accused of sexual misconduct toward several OUR employees.
- Utah AG’s Office insists it has no bias related to investigation of ~$1 million donor
- New court filings detail Tim Ballard's discipline with LDS Church
Ballard's female accusers say he used his position to twist the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to justify sexual conduct, so long as it was part of an undercover technique to save "God's children."
The technique was dubbed the "COUPLES RUSE."
The women say the technique was a grooming technique, not an undercover technique. They say it was invented by Ballard to improve the "sexual chemistry" of undercover operators while on "missions" to save children from human trafficking.
The former employees stated they have personally never witnessed Ballard rescue a victim from human trafficking.
The request
In an effort to confirm the validity of a criminal investigation against Ballard, FOX 13 News made the request for police reports on November 30, 2023.
In response, UCSO stated it "does not maintain responsive documents."
FOX 13 News followed up with specific dates and information related to the case.
"I don't know what more I could have done. I gave them dates. I gave them names," said FOX 13 News investigative reporter Adam Herbets. "I gave them the road map, exactly on how to find these records."
UCSO did not change its position.
FOX 13 News appealed to the Utah State Records Committee, and a hearing was scheduled for April 2024.
Just a few days prior to the hearing, UCSO provided the records and asked FOX 13 News to drop the appeal.
The criminal investigation is ongoing.
The hearing
During the Utah State Records Committe hearing, FOX 13 News explained how the request was handled.
Whenever a GRAMA request is filed by a member of the media, the government is legally required to respond within five business days.
"I don't want to assign blame or intent to Utah County," Herbets said. "I am worried about the precedent that it might set for other governmental entities. It think it’s a pretty underhanded way to try and kill a news story... I would like to make sure that other governmental entities don’t try and use the same tactic in the future."
Governmental entities are also legally required to perform a "reasonable search" for records whenever a request is made.
Ben Van Noy, an attorney for Utah County, declined to state how Utah County conducted its "reasonable search."
"Can you explain why, in his initial request, he was told there were not any records and now there are records?" asked committee member Ed Biehler.
"Unfortunately, that's a great question," Van Noy responded. "I'm not able to discuss that due to attorney-client privilege."
Biehler also serves as the chief of police for Bountiful PD.
He repeatedly stated he was "disappointed" with UCSO's handling of the request.
"One of our responsibilities is to assess whether a reasonable search was performed," said committee member Marie Cornwall. "You're unwilling to give us any information... There is a statute that says the initial police reports are public from the get go.”
“It’s almost as if they’re obstructing it," added committee member Nova Dubovik. “The whole request was handled poorly.”
"I understand the committee's frustration," Van Noy said. “I am afraid, and I’m fairly certain, I came across as pretty stonewalled and pithy and not willing to reveal or divulge much information. I apologize for that."
"It wasn't a shell game," Van Noy added.
Cornwall stated UCSO showed a lack of respect for the duty it has to make public records available to individuals seeking access.
"They, in essence, have snubbed their nose at an important governmental process," Cornwall said.
“An important governmental law," added committee member Linda Petersen. "To finally comply after five months is not consistent with the intent of GRAMA."
During closing arguments, FOX 13 News reiterated that UCSO should have been able to find the records in November 2023, not April 2024.
"It prevents journalists from being able to do their jobs," Herbets said. "I'd like to give UCSO the benefit of the doubt... I just don't want governmental entities to spend five months delaying access to records that they clearly know do exist."
During deliberations, the committee debated the verbiage of its public admonishment.
“I think disappointment is way too mild a phrase to use," said Petersen.
"That's right," Cornwall said. "I agree. We're more than disappointed."
"We're disgusted!" Petersen said.
"But don't put 'disgusted' in the written order," Dubovik laughed.
Several days after the hearing, UCSO it couldn’t find the records, at first, because of the sensitive nature of Special Victims Unit cases. A spokesperson for the department said those types of investigations have extra internal protections, so not just anyone can see the cases or access the files.