Bid to alter GRAMA raises many questions

Senators and media ponder change to records access law

An attempt to make public records access more efficient has some senators concerned that it could end up making it more difficult to get copies of documents.

Those concerns almost derailed a bill intended to make changes to the Government Records Access and Management Act, SB15, in the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee Wednesday. Although the bill passed 5-1, almost all of the Republican senators supporting it said they would probably not support it on the Senate floor without some amendments.

A primary concern was that the changes would allow the publication of records, such as in an agency annual report or budget, to count as a GRAMA release. Instead of producing the records for every subsequent request, the government agency could simply refer the public to the publication.

Sen. David Thomas, R-South Weber, the bill's sponsor, said referring people to a publication would reduce the number of "duplicate" searches for information. Ideally, it would reduce the workload for government and the wait time for the public, since they could find that information immediately.

"The information is still readily available," Thomas said. "The goal of the task force was to make this as efficient as possible, and if it's in a publication, that's the most efficient method."

But other committee members said the intent of GRAMA is to make that available information accessible to the public.

It could also prove to be a significant burden for people who live in rural areas, Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George, said.

"When you live in an area that is 300 miles from the Capitol, to run to downtown (Salt Lake City) and get something from the state school board is a bit difficult," Hickman said. "Maybe we should put the burden back on the agency to gather that information, instead of making the person drive all the way to Salt Lake for the information."

The rule change could prove especially burdensome for the media, since many government agencies already look for ways to delay their access to public records, said Tim Smith, an attorney representing the Utah Media Coalition, a group of Utah daily and weekly newspapers, including the Deseret Morning News.

"It doesn't make it more efficient for the person requesting the information," Smith said. "It makes it more efficient for the government agency, who can send them somewhere else to get the information. . . . If there is an opportunity to abuse it, we usually see it abused."

Smith was also opposed to a change in the appeals process that would require GRAMA appeals to go to the State Records Committee before being appealed to district court. That could lengthen the time to get records by weeks or even months.

---

E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com

Comments