'Denied in whole': Judge tosses lawsuit, clears Weber County Commission hopeful, election office

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A judge on Thursday dismissed the lawsuit filed by three Weber County Commission hopefuls to remove James Ebert from the ballot.
• The judge determined that Ebert and county election officials, also targeted in the suit, complied with election law and that Ebert "will remain on the ballot."
• County commission hopefuls Jon Beesley, Richard Hyer and Katrina Gibson filed the suit.

OGDEN — A judge on Thursday tossed the lawsuit three Weber County Commission candidates filed to force a fourth hopeful from the ballot, James Ebert.

The ruling from 2nd District Court Judge Craig Hall came after an hour-and-a-half hearing in the case, filed May 27, days ahead of the start of mail-in balloting.

"I just want to make it clear that the petition is denied in whole. Mr. Ebert will remain on the ballot. And the court rules that Mr. Ebert and the county clerk's office in Weber County substantially complied with the election code," Hall said. All ballots cast for Ebert, he went on, "will be counted for Mr. Ebert."

Ebert's attorney, Kevin Richards, blasted the lawsuit filed by County Commission hopefuls Katrina Gibson, Richard Hyer and Jon Beesley as "politically motivated." He noted that earlier Thursday, the plaintiffs had filed notice that they wouldn't seek Ebert's disqualification as a candidate after all but that Gibson nevertheless posted the private probe that prompted their lawsuit to social media.

Her actions, Richards charged, amounted to "political gamesmanship to try to keep a shadow on my client's candidacy and this election process." Ebert, worried about the impact of the suit on his bid for County Commission, said his campaign would continue as June 23, the end of primary balloting, looms.

"We've got work to do. I'd ask the community to continue to support me," he said.

Weber County Clerk/Auditor Ricky Hatch, also a defendant in the lawsuit along with Ebert and Weber County, said the ruling didn't surprise him. Both he and Ebert had rejected the charges put forward in the lawsuit.

"Our elections office substantially complied with state law," Hatch said in an emailed statement. "We regret that this lawsuit has unnecessarily consumed thousands of taxpayer dollars and impacted voter confidence in elections. We look forward to focusing on hearing the voice of the people via the ballot box."

Mail-in ballots went out Tuesday with Ebert's name on them, and some have started trickling back to Hatch's office, which oversees elections. Ebert, Gibson and Hyer are vying in the Republican primary for the County Commission A post, same as Duane Kearsley, who's not involved in the suit. Beesley is running in the Republican primary for the County Commission B seat against incumbent Sharon Bolos, who's also uninvolved in the lawsuit.

On hand for Thursday's hearing was Gibson with attorney Matthew Koyle on one side of the courtroom and Ebert, Richards and attorney Chris Crockett, representing Weber County, on the other. Hatch and other county officials were seated in the gallery as well as Bolos and Kerry Gibson, Katrina Gibson's husband.

'Put this issue to rest'

At issue in the suit, at least initially, were Ebert's filings in January to run for the commission seat. In their suit, Hyer, Gibson and Beesley said he filed the required conflict-of-interest declarations too late or improperly filed them because they weren't included with his candidacy declaration. They also charged Hatch with "altering the election procedures or processes" related to Ebert's filings.

After the county filed its response to the suit detailing the process Ebert followed in filing his paperwork, the defendants said they would no longer seek to remove him from the ballot. Ebert met the varied deadlines, but signed the conflict-of-interest declaration after the candidacy declaration, giving rise to some of the defendants' questions.

Even so, Ebert's lawyer asked the court to issue a ruling clearing him at Thursday's hearing as mail-in balloting in his race proceeds, same as Crockett on behalf of Weber County. "I think it would serve the public interest to actually summarily put this issue to rest so that the election can go on without any distractions whatsoever," Crockett said.

In ruling for Ebert, Hatch and Weber County, Hall determined they "substantially complied" with election law. He also noted the timing of the lawsuit, on the eve of voting in the election, citing the legal doctrine of laches.

"Election litigation is uniquely time-sensitive, and parties seeking to alter a ballot must act with extreme diligence, and a plaintiff's lack of diligence that works a disadvantage or injury to a defendant justifies the application of laches," he said.

Finally, Hall said, "public interest interest favors ballot access and voter choice."

In a statement after Thursday's ruling, Crockett defended the professionalism and integrity of the county's election workers. "Our goal throughout this matter has been to ensure that voters have the opportunity to consider the candidates and make their voices heard at the ballot box," he said.

Gibson, on the other hand, expressed disappointment with the judge's decision. She said some of the questions she and the other defendants raised linger on.

"The evidence we presented raised legitimate concerns about whether election laws and procedures were applied equally to all candidates. While the court dismissed the petition, the questions we raised about transparency, accountability and equal treatment under the law remain unanswered," she said. Strict adherence to law in election matters "is essential because public confidence in the process depends on it."

Ebert and Weber County are seeking reimbursement for their legal fees by Gibson, Hyer and Beesley, but Hall has yet to rule on the issue.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

Related topics

Utah electionsPoliticsUtahWeber CountyPolice & Courts

Tim Vandenack

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Tim Vandenack covers immigration, multicultural issues and Northern Utah for KSL. He worked several years for the Standard-Examiner in Ogden and has lived and reported in Mexico, Chile and along the U.S.-Mexico border.