DGO denies request for University of Utah complaint records, citing FERPA limits

Director Lonnie Pearson denied an appeal by Duran Brown seeking institutional records documenting the University of Utah’s handling of complaints he filed about the university boxing club, ruling the records are education records protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The decision was announced after a short hearing in which Brown argued the university’s blanket FERPA classification was overbroad and that administrative intake, routing and decision‑making records should be producible with redactions.

Brown told the hearing that he filed four incident reports to the university’s public incident reporting system between 2022 and 2024 and that his counsel sent related correspondence in January 2024. "I specifically seek institutional administrative records documenting how the University of Utah received, processed, and responded to reports submitted through its reporting system," he said. He argued those institutional records concern the university’s actions, not students’ educational records in whole.

University counsel told the hearing the complaints named student respondents and identified witnesses; the university located two complaints responsive to Brown’s timeframe and argued that records “directly relate to students” and are therefore subject to FERPA. Counsel said FERPA covers nonacademic records that “directly relate to a student” and that redacting identifying information would be ineffective here because Brown already knows the names of individuals identified in his complaint. "Because the records that Mr. Brown seeks are student records under FERPA, they are not subject to a GRAMA analysis," counsel argued.

Pearson reviewed the submissions and in‑camera materials and agreed with the respondent that the requested records meet FERPA’s definition of education records and are maintained by the educational institution. He found the records would inevitably contain personally identifiable information and that providing redacted copies would effectively disclose the underlying education records in this instance. He therefore found in‑camera review unnecessary and denied the appeal, noting a written decision would be issued within seven business days and that either party may appeal to district court within 30 calendar days.

The ruling addresses how GRAMA and FERPA intersect when complaints about student conduct are processed by a public institution. It leaves open typical next steps — a written order and possible district court review — but resolves the immediate appeal in the university’s favor.

A written decision will follow within seven business days and either party may appeal to district court within 30 calendar days.