Utahns earn B in audit of GRAMA

An audit of 135 local government agencies by a state journalism organization gave Utah cities, counties, police/sheriff departments and school districts a "B" average in complying with Utah's public records law.

Deseret Morning News graphic Making the grade: public record access Requires Adobe Acrobat.

The Utah Foundation for Open Government, a part of the Utah Headliners chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, recruited 26 students from Brigham Young University, Snow College, University of Utah and Weber State University to request public information from 135 cities, police departments, sheriff's offices, counties and school districts. The study was made possible by a $5,000 grant from the National Freedom of Information Coalition.

Each agency was graded on its compliance with the Government Records Access Management Act (GRAMA) as well as its attitude toward the student asking for the information.

"Overall, Utah earns a 'good' for complying with the public-records law," said the audit's principal investigator, Brian Massey, who is an assistant professor in the University of Utah's department of communication. "Judging from the audit, a citizen generally would have an easy time accessing a public document from the city or county. It would be much harder at a police or sheriff's department, on average. School districts are in between."

But while some government organizations say the audit was a worthwhile look at where public officials could use some improvement in keeping government business open to public inspection, some governments who received poor audit grades took exception to the study's methods.

GRAMA requires that a request for information be submitted in writing. The government then has 10 business days to respond to the request by either providing the information or citing the precise law that allows them to keep the information private.

In this audit, the information requested was clearly public under GRAMA, such as copies of a city mayor's expense report or a copy of a police department's dispatch log.

Those governments who followed the letter of the law received an "A" and were then given extra credit for going beyond what the law requires. Credit was deducted if the public servant questioned whom the person worked for, what they wanted to use the information for or had to go to a superior for help. If a government did not respond to a written GRAMA request within 10 business days, it failed.

While many governments were rated as doing very well in following the law, some were cited with dismal performance and attitude. In particular, law enforcement departments were more likely to refuse requests and have poor attitude, according to the audit.