Director: initial broad Summit County request too vague; narrowed request met GRAMA standard

In combined appeals brought by Derek Anderson against Summit County (several related request numbers), Director Pearson split the record. He found an initial expansive August 11 request was not reasonably specific under GRAMA and therefore not enforceable as presented, but he found that a later, narrowed October 30 request was reasonably specific and that Summit County's searches in response to that narrowed request were reasonable.

Petitioner counsel (Mr. Maragani) alleged the county withheld responsive records, citing the county's internal search hit counts (large numbers for terms such as "West Hills" and personal names) and arguing that production of only a small number of documents is inconsistent with hits returned by the county's email search. "It's our view that they're failing to produce all responsive records because they're covering up embarrassing information or information that may open the county up to liability," Maragani said.

Summit County's counsel and GRAMA coordinator testified that initial searches produced voluminous hits (millions across broad search terms), that the petitioner later narrowed search terms and that the county used Barracuda email searches combined with department-level searches and custodial follow-up. Elizabeth McAtee, the county GRAMA coordinator, testified that no fees were assessed, that the county worked in multiple waves (initial forwarding followed by IT-assisted searches), and that about 140 documents were produced for the first request and additional documents for the narrowed requests.

Director Pearson concluded the first, broad August 11 request was not reasonably specific and therefore could not be required as drafted. He concluded the October 30 narrowed request was reasonably specific and that Summit County's targeted searches met the reasonable-search standard for that request. He also reviewed in-camera materials and upheld the county's privilege and redactions where appropriate. A written decision will issue within seven business days; parties retain the right to appeal to district court within 30 calendar days.