West Hills lawyer sues Summit County over records in incorporation fight

A lawyer tied to the West Hills incorporation push is taking Summit County to court over emails and text messages he says could show county officials coordinated opposition to the proposed township. The dispute cuts beyond a records request and into how voters, landowners and taxpayers were informed in a fight that could shape boundaries, services and future tax decisions in eastern Summit County.

The Park Record reported May 5 that the lawsuit accuses Summit County government of refusing to release public records connected to the incorporation battle. The request is said to involve internal communications that might reveal whether county officials were not just reacting to West Hills but actively helping organize resistance to it. If those records exist and show coordinated activity, the case could test how far a county can go when a major governance question is still moving through the state process.

West Hills has been one of Summit County’s most divisive proposals, centered on about 3,600 acres along State Route 248 near Kamas. The Utah Lieutenant Governor’s Office received the incorporation petition on January 16, 2025, and later certified that it met the requirements of Utah Code §10-2a-208. A feasibility study commissioned by the office and completed Dec. 5, 2024, found the proposed boundary likely would produce at least a 5 percent average budget surplus if incorporated.

Public opposition has been intense. At a January 2025 hearing, eastern Summit County residents filled the room, and no one spoke in support during an hour-long public comment period. The incorporation effort then became entangled in court. In May 2025, 10 Summit County landowners and residents sued Derek Anderson, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson and the Utah Legislature, arguing the state’s incorporation process violated the Utah Constitution. The Legislature was dismissed from that case in July 2025, and in October 2025 a Summit County judge invalidated the West Hills incorporation election, telling voters the race would not be counted.

Now the records lawsuit adds another layer of legal scrutiny to a fight already marked by hearings, election challenges and constitutional claims. For residents watching the West Hills proposal from Kamas and the east side of the county, the outcome could determine not only whether the township ever advances, but also whether county government handled the process with the openness Utah public-records rules are meant to guarantee.