Director denies Johns’s request for fixed jail-camera footage, citing security exemption and proprietary-format concerns

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.