Foes of school district split win battle

Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen is back in the hot seat of a lawsuit aimed at stopping the creation of an east-side school district.

Swensen and Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert won't be dropped from a lawsuit filed last September by Herriman, according to a ruling issued Tuesday morning by U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart, because the officials could be involved with future elections regarding the creation of school districts that Herriman's lawsuit says are unconstitutional.

Stewart agreed to dismiss Swensen from the lawsuit on Dec. 3, but on Tuesday, the judge accepted an amended complaint filed by Herriman on Dec. 10 that continues to involve Swensen.

"(Herriman)'s proposed amendments show that Defendant Swensen's role (in the lawsuit) is not yet complete," Stewart said in his ruling.

Stewart also denied Herbert's request to be dropped from the lawsuit because Herriman and other individuals involved with the lawsuit are still trying to overturn November's election. If similar elections were held in the future, Herbert would also be required to be involved with those elections.

Stewart's decision surprised Assistant Attorney General Thom Roberts, who is representing Herbert in this case.

"I wasn't expecting the judge to rule this way, quite frankly," Roberts said. "From the lieutenant governor's standpoint, I just don't think we're the right defendants to be in there. ... (Herbert) is just an election official. He's not involved in dividing up school districts or creating new school districts."

Salt Lake County's district attorney's office, representing Swensen, declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.

Herriman originally filed a lawsuit in September to try to stop the exclusion of west-side voters in the creation of an east-side school district. The city did not receive a preliminary injunction that would have stopped Swensen from counting east-siders' votes, but Herriman still says Utah's statute that allowed the election is unconstitutional.

Now that the November election has passed, and 53 percent of east-side voters approved creating a new school district, Herriman has amended their original complaint to include the upcoming special election in June where new school board members will be chosen.