The school district created the COO position in 2019 and Tanner held the role for six years.
Starting in November 2024, residents and a former employee raised concerns about Tanner, alleging he’d lied about his military service and exhibited potentially criminal behavior.
In response, the district hired two external investigators in December 2024 to look into the allegations: Kirk McRae, an attorney specializing in employment and labor issues, and retired Brig. Gen. Michael Liechty, who has over 40 years of military experience.
The Utah Attorney General’s Office opened an investigation in January 2025 after a referral from Park City and Summit County law enforcement.
Neither investigation found criminal wrongdoing or school district policy violations.
In a statement, the district said it released the investigation results Wednesday after it “determined that the public interest in disclosure outweighs the interest in restriction” under Utah law.
The main concern was about Tanner’s military service. Tanner told KPCW in July 2024 he was an Air Force reservist contingency airlift director in addition to his COO position.
At the time, he said he was planning to retire soon. However, documents obtained through public records requests show Tanner retired from the military on Nov. 17, 2021.
The attorney general’s office and the district investigated the claims, but neither found criminal wrongdoing or policy violations. That’s because the district’s leave records show Tanner never used military status as a reason for taking time off.
While Tanner did misrepresent his service to KPCW, according to the Stolen Valor Act of 2013 it’s not a crime to lie about service or brag to impress others. Lying about military service is only illegal if the individual gets a tangible personal benefit through the lie.
Tanner told district investigators he had not intentionally misrepresented his service during the July 2024 interview, but was acting reflexively and perhaps defensively.
Tanner also inaccurately stated his military service to district investigators in December 2024. Investigation documents show Tanner said he was not on active duty, but was in the Individual Ready Reserve, despite retiring in 2021.
Investigators said while those responses were inaccurate, the information he provided about district business was not. Because Tanner’s military service had no bearing on his position as COO, investigators said this issue is not the district's “obligation to police.”
Other allegations against Tanner included storing his vehicle at the district’s transportation bus barn while he worked remotely over the summer, and paying a district mechanic to service his vehicle twice.
The attorney general’s office found the allegations were true, but said no laws were broken. Tanner had permission to park his vehicle on district property and the district mechanic did the work privately.
The district’s investigators also looked into “employee ethics” policy violations, specifically those that set rules barring outside work during contract time, outside employment interfering with district work and outside business creating a conflict of interest. Its report said no ethical policy violations were found.
Investigators McRae and Liechty were also asked to determine whether the district had cause to terminate Tanner’s employment under the district’s “orderly termination” policy.
Investigators said the district may have cause based on dishonesty and supplying false information to the school district during the investigation.
It was left to the district’s legal counsel to determine if Tanner could be fired based on this information, but no guidance was made public.
Ultimately, the COO position was eliminated March 31. The district said it was to reduce overhead costs. Tanner received an almost $176,000 severance package.
