The petition is “due to violation of Utah election laws,” according to the court filing.

Hyer and Gibson are currently part of a four-person Republican primary involving Ebert for Seat A on the commission, while Beesley is running against current County Commissioner Sharon Bolos for the Seat B spot.

The petitioners seek a declaration from the court that certain election laws “have been violated concerning the untimely filing of conflicts of interest disclosures” or information provided that Ebert’s conflict of interest disclosure was provided with his declarations of candidacy, according to the petition. The petition further states that Ebert is “ineligible to run for a seat on the Weber County Board of Commissioners.”

The petitioners are also seeking “a declaratory determination that the conduct of the Weber County Clerk and the Weber County Clerk’s office was contrary to law” as well as “a declaratory determination that such conduct was motivated by preference for one candidate over others or by conflicts of interest held by employees within the Weber County Clerk’s office,” according to the petition.

Grace Watters, Standard-Examiner

In an email provided to the Standard-Examiner, Hatch said that “Weber County staff work hard to ensure that state code and county policies are followed throughout the candidate filing process and that every candidate is treated fairly and equally, with no special favors.”

Background

According to the petition, “Utah Code Ann. § 17-70-304(2) provides that: ‘Except as provided in Subsection (3), a candidate for an office described in Subsection 1(a) shall complete the conflict of interest disclosure statement and submit the statement to the county clerk at the time the candidate files a declaration of candidacy.'”

The petition alleges that Ebert filed his declaration of candidacy on Jan. 2, but the declaration “did not include the required conflict of interest disclosure statement.”

According to the petition, Ebert’s wife, Steffani Ebert, who is the Weber County Comptroller and “thus reports directly to” Hatch, emailed Hatch on Jan. 8 to advise him that her husband would be amending his declaration.

Grace Watters, Standard-Examiner

“It is presently unknown whether Respondent Ebert filed an entirely new declaration of candidacy with a required conflict of interest disclosure statement or whether he simply submitted a conflict of interest disclosure statement to be attached to his previously filed declaration of candidacy,” the petition reads. “On information and belief, the conflict of interest disclosure was not timely submitted.”

Citing Utah Code Ann. § 17-70-304, the petition says: “Except as provided in Subsection (3), a county clerk: (a) may not accept a declaration from a candidate for an office described in Subsection (1)(a) until the county clerk receives a complete conflict of interest disclosure statement from the candidate: and (b) shall make a candidate’s conflict of interest disclosure statement available for public inspection by posting an electronic copy of the statement on the county’s website. (5) A county clerk shall ensure that a candidate’s conflict of interest disclosure statement remains posted on the website described in Subsection 4(b) until: (a) the candidate resigns or is disqualified as a candidate; or (b) the day after the day of the official general election.”

The petition alleges that Hatch violated Utah Code Ann. § 17-70-304(4) “by accepting Respondent Ebert’s declaration of candidacy without the required conflict of interest disclosure.”

In Hatch’s email, he said, “Mr. Ebert filed his complete declaration of candidacy, including the conflict of interest disclosure, before the deadline after which candidates may not file or amend their declarations (Jan. 8, 2026).”

Hatch acknowledged that Ebert was “unintentionally not provided a conflict of interest form when he originally filed on Friday, January 2.”

Jared Lloyd, Standard-Examiner

He said his “staff notified him that they had neglected to give him the form to sign, so he completed the conflict of interest disclosure online on Sunday, January 4.”

The petition also alleges that Weber County and Hatch “violated Utah Code Ann. § 17-70- 304(4) and (5) by failing to electronically post the conflict of interest disclosures on the county’s website and keeping them posted for the period of time set forth in Subparagraph (5).”

Additionally, “… in response to a complaint filed by Petitioner Gibson with Respondent Hatch’s office that there was no conflict of interest disclosure filed by Respondent Ebert, Respondent Hatch admitted on April 24, 2026 that Respondent Ebert’s disclosure was missing and that the public filing documents had been removed, re-reviewed, reposted, and corrected,” the petition reads.

The petition alleges Steffani Ebert violated Weber County policies and standards of conduct to assist her husband and used her position as Comptroller under Hatch’s direction to “secure special favors for her husband,” “used Weber County computers for political activity” and “engaged in political activities with and for her husband during County work time.”

The petition states that Hatch was made aware of the allegations but “has falsely stated that Steffani Ebert has not engaged in any improper behavior regarding her husband’s qualification for and running for Seat A on the Weber County Commission.”

Photo supplied, Weber County

The petition also alleges a distinction between how the petitions for Bolos and Ebert were handled. According to the petition, both candidates updated their petitions to indicate filing as both a signature-gathering candidate and a convention candidate. For Bolos, according to the petition, the “first page of her application reflects a change in filing date but the signature page appears to be for the original filing.” For Ebert, the “first page of his application was changed,” the petition stated.

The petition claims that the difference in the handling of the same two processes “raises additional questions about how these and other candidates were treated at the time of submitting their notices of candidacy.”

Hatch said he has never and will never “secure special favors for anyone, whether they be an employee, an employee’s spouse, a candidate, friend, other person, or myself, for that matter.” He said to do so “would be anathema to my oath of office and my personal dedication to public liberty and personal integrity.”

He said neither he nor the elections team “altered any election procedures for Mr. Ebert or any other candidates” and that doing so “would be not only illegal, but unethical.”

Hatch said “after extensive discussions with the county’s legal and HR departments, we confidently and unanimously agree that Mrs. Ebert has not done anything illegal or improper” and that she “did not try to secure any special favors and did not violate state law or Weber County policy.”

Hatch said the case “has been referred to the county attorney’s office” and it “will respond to the court.”

Contact Standard-Examiner editor Ryan Comer at rcomer@standard.net.