What's in the AG's calendar? Utahns will get to see after lawsuit against KSL ends in settlement

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes has released his work calendar to KSL, ending a legal fight over public records that dragged on for nearly two years.

Reyes and his office turned over the schedule to KSL Wednesday as part of a settlement agreement. The attorney general's office had sued the news organization and later appealed to the Utah Supreme Court in an attempt to overturn earlier decisions granting KSL access to the calendar.

So, what do the records show about how Reyes has spent his time on the job? The KSL Investigators are working to find out after receiving more than 9,000 pages containing calendar invitations sent to or from Reyes' account on the office's Microsoft Outlook system from 2019 through 2023.

That's a bigger timeframe than KSL sought, and it's what the office already handed over for a pending legislative audit of its travel policies and Reyes' management.

The settlement comes after the AG's office lost several rounds in the public records fight, with two defeats handed down by Utah's State Records Committee and another by a judge who ruled the AG's calendar must be released in response to KSL's request under Utah's open records law.

Reyes' office did not immediately have a comment on the settlement and release of the records.

"The record by the decision makers on this has consistently been in favor of government transparency," said attorney Tammy Frisby, who argued KSL's case before the records committee in September.

Frisby said it was a natural time for the case to come to a close.

While Reyes isn't running for reelection, Frisby noted the candidates vying to replace him all agreed at a recent debate: If elected, they'd allow the public to see what they're up to by making their calendars publicly accessible.

"That just drives home the importance of public attention to transparency and government, and the public just insisting on what we should have a right to see," Frisby said.

KSL first sent its request for a copy of Reyes' calendar in November 2022. At that time, Reyes had come under public scrutiny for a series of trips, including travel and volunteer work with the embattled nonprofit Operation Underground Railroad and a visit to Nevada following the 2020 election. Reyes, a Republican, returned from the swing state, voicing concern but no proof of what he called "voting irregularities." He later faced criticism for a 2022 World Cup junket.

The attorney general has said he took those trips on his own time, without using taxpayer money.

Seeking to learn more about how Reyes was performing in his job as Utah's top law enforcer, KSL filed the public records request for his calendar and appealed to the records committee when his office repeatedly denied access to his schedule.

The news organization fought the legal battle to honor its core job of informing the public about how government leaders are doing their jobs, said KSL news director Leona Wood.

"Our effort to fight it over the course of two years is not something that a typical citizen is going to take," Wood said.

"We believe transparency in government – and in the work our public officials are doing – will help Utahns make the best decisions possible for who they vote for, in order to allow an improved life for themselves," Wood added.

Just after a judge ruled in favor of KSL in February, Utah lawmakers rushed this year to conceal public officials' schedules going forward. Frisby and Wood said they hope the Legislature will listen to voters demanding change.

"We want the public to benefit from the transparency that we fought for," Wood said.

The pages sent to KSL won't reveal everything about where the attorney general goes and when. The records don't contain personal appointments for Reyes, or entries his office has determined are subject to attorney-client privilege.

The KSL Investigators will be reading each page and reporting on the calendar in coming days.

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