San Juan County commissioners voted to table a draft ordinance and privacy-policy statement that would put the county in compliance with the Utah Government Data Privacy Act, asking staff and legal counsel to revise wording that commissioners said could be read as a gate on department software purchases.

Staff described two new sections (8 and 9) that would require the county's administrative lead and a chief privacy officer to review software that collects private data and to present such contracts to the commission if the software stores or shares sensitive information. "Software that collects private data will be presented to the county commissioners to see if there is a need for a public hearing," staff said during the briefing.

Several commissioners said the draft needed two clarifications: it must use the statutory title "county administrator" in public-facing policy language (the draft referred to a chief administrative officer in places), and it should make clear the review applies to software purchases already approved through the budget process rather than creating a new purchase gate. Commissioners suggested adding a single word to clarify that the CAO and chief privacy officer will "review approved software purchases" rather than all purchases.

After debate and a request to meet in person with legal counsel to fine-tune reporting and accountability language, the commission voted to table both the ordinance and the privacy-policy statement, and to schedule a 30-minute in-person work session before the next meeting to finalize edits. Staff said the ordinance and policy must be in place by the end of the year per state guidance; the commission requested the revisions be ready for the next meeting with legal counsel present.