OGDEN -- The Utah Attorney General's Office is asking the courts to reverse a State Records Committee decision ordering the release of documents to activist Dan Schroeder involving a probe of former political organization Envision Ogden.
The petition claiming the documents are protected under state law was filed Wednesday in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City.
The Utah Attorney General's Office announced in March it won't file criminal charges following a lengthy probe of allegations that Envision Ogden engaged in fraud and money laundering.
The investigation, prompted by a complaint from Schroeder, stemmed from a $120-per-plate dinner Envision Ogden held at the Ben Lomond Hotel in February 2007 to promote outdoor recreation and welcome Amer Sports Corp., which had just relocated to the city.
Money from the fundraiser was funneled to Friends of Northern Utah Real Estate to bolster the campaign war chests of city council candidate Blain Johnson, who is no longer on the city council, and Royal Eccles, who failed to win election.
The Utah Attorney General's Office maintains the State Records Committee erred in ordering the release of four of six sets of protected records to Schroeder from the probe, which include a Post-It note with names and phone numbers, a Quicken financial summary and bank records.
"The privileges, privacy interests, and public policies favoring restriction of access to the protected records in this case outweigh any interest favoring access," the petition states.
Schroeder has filed his own complaint in 3rd District Court challenging the State Records Committee's decision to withhold other detailed financial records from the probe deemed to be protected.
"The records committee classified these as private, under a GRAMA provision that protects the privacy of individuals," Schroeder said in an email to the Standard-Examiner. "Envision Ogden, however, was an organization -- not an individual."
See what the Weber County Forum says: http://wcforum.blogspot.com/
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