City officials around the state are working out a way to keep some police disciplinary records in the public eye.

They are seeking an alternative to blanket protections that Sen. Chris Buttars, R-South Jordan, is proposing in SB260 for records detailing the misdeeds of police officers.

A draft substitute is being crafted that would make public final and sustained disciplinary actions taken against police officers but preserve the privacy of minor incidents.

"What we're trying to do with our proposal is make it more clear under what circumstances personnel disciplinary files are available to the public," said South Jordan City Attorney Rob Wall. "Right now if you read in the GRAMA language, there are a fair amount of misinterpretations of what personnel records are available for disclosure."

Buttars crafted the bill after a man named R. Shane Johnson sent public records requests to multiple police departments across the valley asking for disciplinary records for every police officer.

Johnson is a former City Weekly reporter and current private investigator who said he sent out the requests because he wanted the information out in the public arena before the Legislature changed the law.

"I knew this bill was coming, and I wanted to get the information," Johnson said. "The whole thing to me is a matter of public oversight. These police departments do not have public oversight."

He said he doesn't understand "why anybody would compromise on this," especially the cities and the media.

Under South Jordan's substitute proposal, disciplinary actions where the police officer is fired, suspended, demoted or forced to take time off without pay would be made public after the process of appeal is complete. Other types of disciplinary actions would be private.

The city has met with attorneys who represent media outlets to get input on the substitute language, but Wall says the substitute language will benefit police chiefs, too.

The city is working on drafting the alternative bill and asking Buttars to accept it. If he doesn't, the city will decide whether to run a separate bill, Wall said.

"As a city, we think there is a better way to handle police and nonpolice records," Wall said.

Joel Campbell from the Utah Press Association, who also writes a column for the Deseret Morning News, said a coalition of media representatives met Friday to go over South Jordan's proposal.

Public watchdogs worry the bill will allow police officers to get away with bad behavior.

"If a police officer does something wrong, the public has a right to know," he said.

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker said Buttars' bill is "much too broad in terms of protecting an employee's personal records and the records of a disciplinary proceeding."