ELECTIONS, POLITICS, & GOVERNMENT
Attorney general’s office sues reporter over access to Sean Reyes’ calendar
May 30, 2024, 6:37 AM | Updated: 6:39 am
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes speaks at the Utah Republican Party state nominating convention at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on April 27. Reyes' office has filed a lawsuit seeking to keep his calendars from being released. (Megan Nielsen, Deseret News)
(Megan Nielsen, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Attorney General’s Office on Tuesday sued a local reporter and the State Records Committee in the latest attempt to shield Attorney General Sean Reyes’ official calendar from public view.
The lawsuit comes less than a month after Judge Patrick Corum awarded KSL-TV $132,241 in attorney’s fees in a separate lawsuit seeking to compel Reyes to turn over his official calendar. In February, a judge ruled in favor of KSL-TV reporter Annie Knox and said Reyes’ calendars are part of the public record.
Judge sides with KSL, orders release of Utah attorney general’s calendar
Reyes’ office has since filed its intention to appeal that case to a higher court.
Amid ongoing questions about Reyes’ activities, Jessica Miller, a Salt Lake Tribune reporter, filed an open records request for several years of calendars in October 2023. Reyes’ office on Tuesday sued Miller along with the State Records Committee, after the committee ruled that the attorney general’s calendar is subject to disclosure under the state’s Government Records Access and Management Act.
The lawsuit states that Reyes’ office initially declined to release his calendars, stating: “The office does not maintain an official schedule for the attorney general. Additionally, Utah Code § 63G-2-103(22)(b)(ix) provides that ‘a daily calendar or other personal note prepared by the originator for the originator’s personal use or for the personal use of an individual for whom the originator is working’ is not a ‘record’ subject to GRAMA. Accordingly, the office does not maintain any records responsive to your request.”
The complaint asks a judge in Utah’s 3rd Judicial District Court to rule that Reyes’ calendar is “not a record” under state law and “therefore not subject to disclosure.”
Continue reading at ksl.com.
