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Director denies Johns’s request for fixed jail-camera footage, citing security exemption and proprietary-format concerns
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Summary
After in-camera review, Director Pearson denied Courtney Johns’s appeal for fixed surveillance footage from the Salt Lake County jail, finding the records are properly classified as records of security measures (exemption) and concluding releasable materials had been provided; the county cited proprietary file formats and HIPAA limitations.
Courtney Johns asked the director to order Salt Lake County to release fixed-security camera footage and related records from an incident that resulted in an inmate fall and injury. Johns said body-camera and other handheld footage already provided did not give full context and that fixed-camera angles were necessary for a full evaluation of the incident.
The county, represented by Kendall McClelland, argued two alternative bases for withholding: (1) fixed-camera footage is a record of security measures and therefore excluded under the security exemption (section 106 in the transcript); and (2) the system uses a proprietary file format that cannot practically be redacted or exported to a common format without creating new records. The county also noted some records reside with the jail medical unit and are governed by HIPAA and a separate medical-records processes.
Johns proposed technical workarounds, including offering her newsroom’s editors or independent contractors under NDA to perform redaction. She argued the agency had not demonstrated it conducted a reasonable, documented search for use-of-force or booking-stage records and requested in-camera review or a remand for a compliant search.
Director Pearson said he had conducted an in-camera review, considered prior State Records Committee decisions, and weighed the public interest against security concerns. He concluded that the fixed-camera footage at issue was properly classified as records of security measures (section 305-13 cited in the transcript), that the public interest did not outweigh the risk of disclosure in this case, and that releasable records had been provided; he therefore denied the appeal, will issue a written decision within seven business days, and noted the right to appeal to district court.