State Records Committee Appeal 00-10

BEFORE THE STATE RECORDS COMMITTEE OF THE STATE OF UTAH

PEOPLE FOR THE USA, COLOR COUNTRY CHAPTER, Appellant, vs.
KANE COUNTY, Appellee.

DECISION AND ORDER
Case No. 00-10

By this appeal, People for the USA, Color County Chapter ("PFUSA") seeks an order compelling Appellee, Kane County (the "County"), to provide (1) the complete road agreement between the Bureau of Land Management in Kane County, including all supporting documents, (2) minutes from several meetings, (3) current plats and specific descriptions of all county roads existing in Kane County, and (4) a second written opinion from Steve Boyden of the Utah Attorney General's Office concerning the aforementioned road agreement. At the hearing, the County stated that a second written opinion from Mr. Boyden does not exist.

The State Records Committee, having reviewed the materials submitted by the parties, and having heard oral argument and testimony of the parties on November 29, 2000, now issues the following Decision and Order.

STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR DECISION

The parties have agreed that the remaining information requested by PFUSA is public. Kane County must make this information accessible to PFUSA so that it may determine which of those records it would like copied. The Committee strongly suggests that the parties establish a procedure that will allow PFUSA to thoroughly inspect the documents in the County's possession. Options suggested by the parties at the hearing to allow PFUSA to obtain copies of those documents included outsourcing PFUSA's copy requests to a private company or making copies with County copying equipment where possible.

ORDER

WHEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED THAT Appellant's appeal is granted. The County must provide access to PFUSA to allow them to inspect the documents it has requested. If PFUSA has any County documents or maps in its possession, it shall immediately return those records.

RIGHT TO APPEAL

Either party may appeal this Decision and Order to the district court. The petition for review must be filed no later than thirty (30) days after the date of this order. The petition for judicial review must be a complaint. The complaint and the appeals process are governed by the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure and by Utah Code Ann. 63-2-404 (2000). The court is required to make its decision de novo. In order to protect its rights on appeal, a party may wish to seek advice from an attorney.

Entered this 4th day of December, 2000.

BY THE STATE RECORDS COMMITTEE

Betsy L. Ross, Chairperson
State Records Committee