Last week, three Weber County Commission candidates — Richard Hyer, Katrina Gibson and Jon Beesley — petitioned the Second Judicial District Court in and for Weber County to order Weber County and Weber County Clerk/Auditor Ricky Hatch to disqualify County Commission Seat A candidate James Ebert, claiming violation of Utah state law.

Weber County Clerk/Auditor Ricky Hatch reported to the Standard-Examiner that Judge Craig Hall denied the petition for removal and determined in a verbal ruling that Ebert can remain on the ballot. A written ruling will be issued no later than Monday.

“We are pleased and not surprised at the court’s ruling,” Hatch told the Standard-Examiner. “Our elections office substantially complied with state law. We regret that this lawsuit has unnecessarily consumed thousands of taxpayer dollars and impacted voter confidence in elections. We look forward to focusing on hearing the voice of the people via the ballot box.”

Ebert told the Standard-Examiner he’s happy about the results.

“For me, we knew that there was not an issue,” he said. “I was appreciative that Judge Hall took the oral arguments and found that there was nothing to substantiate (removal), denied the petition and made it extremely clear that I was going to be on the ballot.”

He said he’s looking forward to getting back to his campaign.

“I’m just excited that the cloud that’s been over this election is gone,” he said. “My campaign has always been about my plan to strengthen and build Weber County. It’s always been about finding ways to diversify our revenues so that we can reduce reliance on property tax. Those are the things I’ll continue to talk about.”

The Standard-Examiner contacted the three petitioners for comment but received no comments by press time.