Parents, sheriff and state officials press for school resource officers; sheriff seeks $35,000 video-redaction service

Ashley Fesselman, a Morgan County parent, told the commission the county’s elementary schools and one middle school lack school resource officers and urged commissioners to support adding deputies to schools.

“Having an SRO will possibly prevent violent activity or provide a quicker response if something does happen,” Fesselman said, noting that Morgan High and Mountain Green Middle School already have SRO coverage while elementary schools do not. She cited national statistics and recent incidents in nearby counties as context for the request.

Sheriff Corey Stark and Matt Pennington, state security chief with the Utah Department of Public Safety, joined the discussion. Pennington described options that comply with last year’s school‑safety amendment (referred to in the meeting as HB 84): a trained law‑enforcement SRO, private armed security that meets state training requirements, or a school employee volunteer “guardian” trained under state rules. Pennington said the state’s recommended best practice is a sworn SRO because of training, liability coverage and ongoing law‑enforcement experience.

Commissioners and the sheriff discussed costs and funding. Pennington said the usual charge to a school district for a deputy in that role is "a hundred and 80,000," adding that a split‑cost model with the school district is common. County officials and the sheriff discussed recent state and federal grant rounds and a separate state grant program administered by the state board of education; Pennington said one state program closed its application mid‑January and that districts and LEAs would be evaluated district by district.

Separately, Sheriff Stark described recurring public records requests for deputy body‑worn camera footage that must be redacted because they contain victims’ or juveniles’ identifying information. He said the sheriff’s office has denied four or five recent body‑camera requests because of protected information that cannot be released without redaction. Stark described a third‑party, FBI‑vetted vendor (referred to by him as Lenslock in the meeting) that would perform redaction work and return material within 24 hours; he estimated that a vendor‑managed redaction and replacement program would cost about $35,000 per year and include equipment refresh on a roughly 2½‑year cycle.

Commissioners asked whether existing vendors (Motorola, the county’s current provider) offer the capability; Stark said the county’s current vendor does not provide the redaction service the sheriff’s office needs. Commissioners also asked about how often footage is requested and how many requests are denied; Stark said denials are rare and that, in the prior month, the office denied roughly four or five requests because of protected content. Stark said his IT director can sometimes redact footage manually, but that approach has imposed significant staff time and a charge (he said one redaction cost about $240 in staff time), and that reliance on internal IT is not a sustainable policy.

Commissioners asked about contract length and background checks for redaction contractors; Stark said the vendor’s personnel go through state BCI background screening and annual certifications required to handle protected criminal justice information. Commissioners discussed tradeoffs between deputizing county staff to perform redaction and contracting to a vetted third party; some commissioners said using an independent third party would be preferable to relying on internal staff.

No purchase motion for the redaction software was made during the meeting. Commissioners indicated they wanted the proposal discussed further before taking a procurement or budget action.

Provenance: The public comment and the sheriff’s presentation and discussion of video redaction begin with Ashley Fesselman’s public comment (transcript segment starting s=123.085) and continue through the sheriff’s exchange about Lenslock and vendor costs (transcript segments around s=288.97–s=631.915).