Same cameras. Same building. Different answer. Technology changes. The oath does not.
Source: BOS Surveillance Video: Fulfilled in 2025 — Denied for April 8, 2026
In 2025, public records requests for Board of Supervisors surveillance video were fulfilled. After April 8, 2026, requests for footage from the same facility have been denied on security grounds. No policy change has been identified that explains the difference.
The paper trail in the video is straightforward. Multiple requests sought the April 8 footage. A written notice on July 15, 2026 asked the County to preserve the records. Documentation presented shows Deputy Hatch obtained the April 8 surveillance through County Security Services and reviewed it for his report. The public, so far, has not.
At the Board, a speaker who said she was assaulted in the same room on April 23, 2025 told supervisors she had to wait months for that earlier video through a public records request. She said later requests are now refused for security purposes, while unadjudicated allegations against her remain publicly available. Lori Baron then put the Board on notice: more than nine related requests between two citizens are being denied; the footage sought concerns assaults inside the building; and the County is asked to identify the specific legal authority or exemption that treats the present requests differently from the 2025 releases. She cited Arizona’s public records statutes and demanded preservation of the footage, metadata, communications, and any decision records.
Citizens should not have to fear for their safety to speak under this roof. And a county that released BOS surveillance video last year should be able to state, in writing, why the same kind of record from April 8 is now closed — especially when its own deputy has already viewed it.
“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
— 2 Corinthians 3:17
Transparency matters. Public records matter. Follow the rules. Ask the Board for the exemption, the retention schedule, and the April 8 file.
Fulfilled then. Denied now. No policy change identified.
