Archives News

The Utah State Archives is excited to welcome Lonny Pehrson as the new Director of the Government Records Office! In this role, Lonny will oversee the daily operations of the Government Records Office, adjudicate GRAMA (Government Records Access and Management Act) appeals hearings, supervise the Government Records Ombudsman and staff, and serve as a key resource on records access and

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

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

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

In the 2019 session, the Utah Legislature updated the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) and the Public Records Management Act (PRMA). Senator Wayne Harper, sponsored two bills (Senate bills 25 and 108) which contained the most significant changes. With Senate bill 25, the Legislature created a new records management committee. This new committee will approve records retention schedules

Records and Information Management Month (RIMM) 2019 is here! To celebrate we are hosting a webinar each week in April. General Retention Schedules by Rebekkah Shaw and Heidi Steed, RIM Specialists at the Utah State ArchivesWednesday, April 3, Noon-1:00 p.m. Rebekkah and Heidi will have a discussion about the general retention schedules–how they have changed, why they’re changing, and how

The Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) provides for the release of private records to certain individuals. These individuals include the subject of the record, a parent or guardian, and additional individuals who have a notarized release or power of attorney (Utah Code Section 63G-2-202(1)(a)). GRAMA also states that before releasing a private (controlled or protected) record, a records

         The Utah State Archives and Records Service hosted 22 guests from the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy on September 24, 2018. Our guests were journalists, mayors, a senator, and agency directors from several Central and South American nations who travelled to the United States to examine transparency and accountability in government. They are researching best practices