State Records Committee Appeal 03-02

BEFORE THE STATE RECORDS COMMITTEE OF THE STATE OF UTAH

DOUGLAS D. JONES, Petitioner vs.
DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, OFFICE OF RECOVERY SERVICES, Respondent

DECISION AND ORDER
Case No. 03- 02

By this appeal, Douglas D. Jones seeks an order compelling respondent, Department of Human Services, Office of Recovery Services ("ORS"), to provide (1) all communications between O.R.S. and their legal counsel, (2) "all records that show ownership of property, business, stocks, bonds or title to any thing with a monetary value," and (3) "all protected and non-protected government information in my file that concerns me, ownership in anything and communications between attorneys and anybody who has been involved with my files."

The State Records Committee, having reviewed the materials submitted by the parties, and having heard oral argument and testimony on February 12, 2003, now issues the following Decision and Order.

STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR DECISION

The Office of Recovery Services verified to the Committee that it has produced all records in its possession that are responsive to Mr. Jones' records requests. The Committee recognized that the breadth of Mr. Jones' records requests might encompass documents in other state agencies and advised him to contact those agencies if he felt it necessary or appropriate to do so.1

ORDER

WHEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED THAT Petitioner's appeal is denied. The Committee is persuaded that ORS produced all records in its possession that were responsive to Mr. Jones' records requests.

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. 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 18th day of February, 2003.

BY THE STATE RECORDS COMMITTEE

Cherie Willis, Chairperson
State Records Committee

1. Since Mr. Jones' request included attorney communications, the Committee further advised Mr. Jones that such records are typically classified as protected under Utah Code Ann. 63-2-304(18) ("records of communications between a governmental entity and an attorney representing, retained, or employed by the governmental entity if the communications would be privileged as provided in Section 78-24-8" are protected records). Protected records are not public. See Utah Code Ann. 63-2-201(3) and -201(5)(a).