The city of St. George must release a settlement agreement it reached with a drag show group after the state’s records director ruled the document was improperly classified as confidential.
Lonny Pehrson, the director of the Government Records Office, ruled Thursday that the agreement between St. George and the Southern Utah Drag Stars is not considered private under Utah law, despite the confidentiality clause that was included in the document.
The settlement was reached in February after nearly two years of litigation in a lawsuit over the city’s violation of the drag performers’ First Amendment rights. St. George denied the Southern Utah Drag Stars a permit for a show at a city park in April 2023, but two months later a federal judge ruled the city’s actions unconstitutional and ordered the city to allow the show to happen.
The Salt Lake Tribune requested a copy of the settlement agreement under the Government Records Access and Management Act in February, but the city denied the request and an appeal. The Tribune then filed an appeal in April with the state records office, seeking transparency about how public funds may have been spent as part of the settlement.
Despite the ruling, the document still remains private as of Friday. The agreement is currently a record sealed by the federal court. “I think it was filed under seal simply because it has a confidentiality clause in it, and they didn’t want to breach that confidentiality clause by filing it in open court,” Pehrson said during the hearing.
St. George spokesperson David Cordero said Friday that because of the seal, the city could not provide a copy of the document to The Tribune. “As soon as they unseal it, then we can make it available, but we can’t do anything until then,” he said.
The document is public under Utah’s records law for a variety of reasons, according to Pehrson. The agreement is a contract that involves the spending of public money, he said. It’s also a final agreement, which is excluded from a protected classification, he added. Pehrson said he doesn’t believe releasing the agreement would invade anyone’s personal privacy.
Pehrson will issue a written decision within seven business days of the hearing. Executive Editor Lauren Gustus said The Tribune plans to ask the court to unseal the document.