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A state ethics commission has found that the Juab County recorder behaved unethically by failing to sufficiently disclose information about his private business dealings that could lead to conflicts of interest.

The Utah Political Subdivision Ethics Commission agreed unanimously that the recorder, Craig Sperry, had not fulfilled his duty to communicate details about "all business entities that he had an interest in" ­— including "numerous real estate holdings, interests and trusts"­ — which might conflict with his public duties, according to an "Order and recommendations" document released Thursday by the commission.

The allegations against Sperry were filed by Jennifer Corbin and Robert Williams in May.

The commission ordered that, beginning in January 2017, Sperry must file a yearly public disclosure with the County Commission, which would include all business entities and real-estate holdings in which he has an interest that could create a conflict.

Sperry's real-estate holdings and interests include Cliff View, LLC; Tintic Mountain Real Estate Investment, LLC; Bradley Basin, LLC; the Sperry Family Trust; and the Salt Creek Trust, according to the document.

The commission split on and dismissed additional allegations claiming that Sperry "benefited inappropriately" from the Greenbelt Act after he acquired property previously designated as Greenbelt land.

"Though he did not file an application for this benefit and it was the county assessor's error in not changing the status of 'Greenbelt' at the change of ownership," the document says, "Sperry did have an obligation to inform the assessor of the error of this inappropriate designation that benefited him personally."

The allegation was dismissed after the commissioners voted 4-2, with dissenters claiming Sperry was acting as a private citizen when he erred, rather than in his capacity as county recorder.

Additional subsections of the dismissed allegation claimed that Sperry forced business to the family title company, "acquired numerous properties before a tax sale in direct competition with citizens and acquired large amounts of distressed real estate undercutting the public." The commission did not believe there was enough evidence supporting these subsections to prove the allegation, the document says.

The law requires that six commissioners must support an allegation for it to be "proven."

The commission deliberated for four hours last month after hearing testimony from both parties before making its decision.

"The role of the commission is to provide a venue for citizen concerns," said Commisson Chairman Paul Warner in a news release. "We expect all Utah officials to maintain high ethical standards. If that doesn't happen there needs to be a competent mechanism to assess the complaints and seek justice. In this case, we listened carefully and treated both sides fairly."

The commission requested that the Juab County Commission read a copy of its order at the next public meeting. Warner added that "now it is up to the Juab County Commission to take whatever action they deem appropriate."

Juab County Attorney Jared Eldridge said Thursday the county is not planning to charge Sperry at this time, since the commission did not recommend criminal prosecution and no investigative agency has presented a case against Sperry.

Twitter: @mnoblenews