diff --git a/backend/app/utils.py b/backend/app/utils.py
deleted file mode 100755
index d8b483d8..00000000
--- a/backend/app/utils.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,33 +0,0 @@
-from functools import wraps
-from datetime import datetime
-from bson import ObjectId
-from quart import jsonify
-from app.auth.quart_jwt import get_jwt_identity
-from app.models.user import User
-
-
-def make_serializable(obj):
-    """Recursively convert MongoDB documents to JSON-serializable types."""
-    if isinstance(obj, dict):
-        return {k: make_serializable(v) for k, v in obj.items()}
-    elif isinstance(obj, list):
-        return [make_serializable(item) for item in obj]
-    elif isinstance(obj, ObjectId):
-        return str(obj)
-    elif isinstance(obj, datetime):
-        return obj.isoformat()
-    else:
-        return obj
-
-def admin_required(f):
-    @wraps(f)
-    def decorated_function(*args, **kwargs):
-        user_id = get_jwt_identity()
-        user_data = User.find_by_id(user_id)
-        
-        if not user_data or user_data.get('role') != 'admin':
-            return jsonify({"message": "Admin privileges required"}), 403
-        
-        return f(*args, **kwargs)
-    
-    return decorated_function
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/backend/app/utils/__init__.py b/backend/app/utils/__init__.py
index f837edfb..fb5b1702 100755
--- a/backend/app/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/backend/app/utils/__init__.py
@@ -1 +1,35 @@
-# Utils package for Synthetic Society backend
\ No newline at end of file
+# Utils package for Synthetic Society backend
+from functools import wraps
+from datetime import datetime
+from bson import ObjectId
+from quart import jsonify
+from app.auth.quart_jwt import get_jwt_identity
+from app.models.user import User
+
+
+def make_serializable(obj):
+    """Recursively convert MongoDB documents to JSON-serializable types."""
+    if isinstance(obj, dict):
+        return {k: make_serializable(v) for k, v in obj.items()}
+    elif isinstance(obj, list):
+        return [make_serializable(item) for item in obj]
+    elif isinstance(obj, ObjectId):
+        return str(obj)
+    elif isinstance(obj, datetime):
+        return obj.isoformat()
+    else:
+        return obj
+
+
+def admin_required(f):
+    @wraps(f)
+    def decorated_function(*args, **kwargs):
+        user_id = get_jwt_identity()
+        user_data = User.find_by_id(user_id)
+
+        if not user_data or user_data.get('role') != 'admin':
+            return jsonify({"message": "Admin privileges required"}), 403
+
+        return f(*args, **kwargs)
+
+    return decorated_function
\ No newline at end of file