Director orders Heber City to process 35 GRAMA items sequentially, provide per-item fee estimates

The director of the Department of Government Records ordered Heber City to provide a concrete, item-by-item timeline and fee estimate for processing 35 separate GRAMA records requests in the appeal Elemental Aviation v. Heber City (appeal 2026-168). The order requires sequential processing of each of the 35 items, fee estimates based on the lowest-paid employee capable of the work, and either a refund or application of a previously paid $2,000 deposit. A written decision will follow within seven business days.

Petitioner counsel Michelle Quist asked the director to compel immediate production of all nonexempt communications and to forbid conditioning production on payment for privilege review. "Petitioner asked the director to order Heber City to produce all responsive nonexempt communications within 7 calendar days without conditioning production on payment for legal privilege or classification review," Quist told the hearing. Client Jason Talley said the records concern a major airport project: "Heber City had planned on spending a $100,000,000 of, public money over the next 15 years on airport improvements," Talley testified, saying the city later sought to accelerate that work and that many requested documents remain undisclosed.

Heber City's attorney, Cook, described IT search results that returned roughly 20,000 emails across 22 files and urged that a reasonable secondary review was necessary to remove nonresponsive items, protect victim-privacy data and identify privileged communications. The director questioned whether records officers and IT could refine search methods and whether processing items sequentially would be less burdensome for requesters and the city. The director concluded that the city impermissibly assessed fees for attorney review to determine whether records are subject to disclosure under GRAMA and ordered the sequential processing and itemized fee estimates to allow petitioners to narrow requests if needed.

The director encouraged cooperation between the parties and suggested the ombudsman as a resource. The hearing officer said she will issue a written order within seven business days; parties may appeal the decision to district court within 30 calendar days.