Task force would study records access law

To help state and local governments adapt to evolving technologies, a legislative task force may examine what, if any, changes are needed to the state's open records law.

The proposed yearlong task force to study the Government Records Access Management Act, which was unanimously approved by the House Government Operations Committee on Tuesday, would tackle a variety of issues that have arisen since the creation of the law more than a decade ago. Those could include access to electronic records, balancing privacy rights and the public's right to know, and an inconsistency in fees, which sponsoring Rep. Douglas Aagard, R-Kaysville, said has been abused by some government agencies.

"I'm finding that in some places, they are arbitrarily setting the fees so high that it's a burden for people to get them (records)," he said. "That's not the intent of the law."