Archives News

In the 2024 session, the Utah Legislature made several updates to the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA). Here are the highlights.  Representative Loubet sponsored HB 266 which updates the Government Records Ombudsman statute and the GRAMA appeals process to include the Ombudsman. This bill also removed the State Records Committee from being a necessary party to a petitioner

Another legislative session has come to a close. As we all catch our breath, here are a few updates that impact GRAMA, Archives, and Records Management, that you may find interesting. The last day for the Governor to sign or veto bills is the 23rd of March. Any bill that does not have a specified effective date will go into

Last year was an exceptionally busy year for the State Records Committee! In 2022, the committee received approximately 260 appeals and issued 61 Decisions and Orders. 68 appeals were withdrawn before the hearing because they were resolved in mediation, thanks to the hard work by our State Ombudsman Rosemary Cundiff! 2022 Charts Most of the requesters who appeal to the

Government records are the property of the state (Utah Code 63A-12-105(1)). The public has a right to open and fair access to records that are classified as public. At the Utah Division of Archives and Records Service, we take transparency very seriously. Our Open Government team maintains two important websites for the state of Utah: the Utah Public Notice Website,

In the 2022 session, the Utah Legislature made several updates to the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA). Here are the highlights.  Representative Dan Johnson sponsored House Bill 96 which contains two significant changes. First, it defines a media representative as “a person who requests a record to obtain information for a story or report for publication or broadcast

This blog post was written by Becky Wright who is an Archivist with the Davis County Clerk and Auditor’s Office. This is the first in a series of blog posts she authored in celebration of Sunshine Week. Sunshine Week is a nation-wide initiative promoting open government and access to public information. To read the other blog posts, check out the

As 2021 comes to a close, we wanted to share what the State Records Committee (SRC) has been up to this year. The Committee met electronically through May. In June, we started meeting in person again at the Taylorsville State Office Building, but virtual attendance was still an option for anyone attending. Going forward, meetings will always have an option

If you ask for a record from a government agency and they deny access or deny your reasonable request for a fee waiver, what options do you have? If you have requested a record from an agency and your request was denied, there is an appeals process, which is laid out in Part 4 of the Government Records Access and

With an election coming up and recent changes in the law, it may be time to think about the classification of voter registration records. Parts of voter registration records are public, other parts are private, some are entirely private, and signatures are protected as outlined below: Private (Utah Code Section 63G-2-302(j)): Driver license or identification number Social Security number or

The Utah Division of Archives and Records Service is proud to announce the third annual Sunshine Conference. The theme is “Transparency, Trust, and Public Service”. Presentations will cover the origins of Utah’s open record laws, the ABC’s of GRAMA, the media’s perspective on record requests, and a discussion on preserving electronic records. Appointed Records Officers, the general public, and anyone