Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Records topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County clerk clarifies petition-signature recordkeeping, points to Lieutenant Governor for custody of audited packet records
Summary
Davis County Clerk Brian McKenzie told commissioners that the county does not retain certain petition signature records identified in a state audit and directed requesters to the Lieutenant Governor's Office, which holds custody after audit.
Davis County Clerk Brian McKenzie addressed the commission on Feb. 11 to clarify how his office handled a public-records request tied to a state audit of petition signatures.
What he said: McKenzie told commissioners his office received a records request on Oct. 23, 2024, seeking lists of petition signatures referenced in an audit report by State Auditor John Dougall dated Sept. 3, 2024. McKenzie said the petition packets were processed during the original verification and that additional signatures identified during the state audit were examined by auditors after the county's initial review. He said the county did not create or retain separate county records for those additional audit-identified signatures because the audit review was not part of the original petition packet verification process.
McKenzie said that, after the audit, petition packets were transferred to the custody of the Lieutenant Governor's Office, which is the custodian of those records if they exist. He said Davis County notified the requester under the cited public-records statute that the county did not maintain the requested record and provided the Lieutenant Governor's Office as the custodian to contact.
Timeline and appeals: McKenzie said the county received a duplicate-appeal-style request on Jan. 6, 2025, and again responded that the county did not maintain the records. The requester emailed Commissioner Bob Stevenson on Jan. 9, 2025; McKenzie said that contact was not recognized as a valid appeal under county procedures. An appeal to the State Records Committee has been filed and McKenzie said county staff offered mediation before that committee process; the offer was declined by the requester.
Why it matters: McKenzie’s clarification addresses public concern about which offices retain certain petition-review materials and explains the formal path for appeals and mediation under the public-records process.
What the commission did: Commissioners accepted McKenzie’s presentation and moved on to other business without additional action on the records matter.
