Denial of records was illegal, justices rule

The Utah Supreme Court has ruled that Salt Lake County officials were wrong in denying a government records request by the Deseret Morning News seeking review of a county sexual harassment report.

In a ruling issued Friday morning, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that government records are presumed public under the Government Records Access and Management Act and that the county had the burden to prove otherwise. In this case, the justices ruled that the public's interest in releasing the sexual harassment report outweighed the county's argument in keeping the report private.

"This is a great victory for the people's right to know and the First Amendment," said Deseret Morning News Editor Joe Cannon.

The ruling reverses a lower district court ruling by Judge Tyrone Medley, who determined the report should not be made public. The district court sided with Salt Lake County, which denied the paper's GRAMA request following an investigation of sexual harassment involving a high-ranking county official.

Deseret Morning News attorney Jeff Hunt said Friday's ruling sets an important legal precedent in ruling that reports involving alleged misconduct by public officials are of the public's interest.

"We're very pleased with the decision. It vindicates the public's interest in access to government records, particularly records concerned with alleged misconduct of public officials," Hunt said.

The independent report was commissioned by the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office after a former county clerk's office employee, Marcia Rice, sued Chief Deputy Clerk Nick Floros for sexual harassment in 2003. Rice also alleged that Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen knew of the situation but did nothing. Members of the County Council also accused former District Attorney David Yocom of soft-pedaling the investigation to allow Floros to retire.

Rice's suit was eventually settled out of court, and Floros resigned and was allowed to retire from his job before the independent report was completed.

The Deseret Morning News filed an open records request for the report, claiming the public had a right to make sure the investigation was free from any political influence. The paper also argued that privacy was not an issue because the victim of the sexual harassment already had waived her privacy interest in the report.

The county denied the request, and county officials said they owed no obligation to explain their investigation, other than to tell the public they conducted one.

Salt Lake County officials declined comment on the Utah Supreme Court ruling Friday.

---

Contributing: Leigh Dethman

---

E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com