State Records Committee Appeal 06-11

BEFORE THE STATE RECORDS COMMITTEE OF THE STATE OF UTAH

WILLIAM H. DOUTIS, JR., Petitioner, vs.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, Respondent.

DECISION AND ORDER
Case No. 06-11

By this appeal, William H. Doutis, Jr., seeks access to records associated with his correctional history held by the Department of Corrections and waiver of the fees for obtaining said records. The State Records Committee, having reviewed the materials submitted by the parties, and having heard oral argument and testimony on November 9, 2006, now issues the following Decision and Order.

STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR DECISION

1. The Government Records Access and Management Act ("GRAMA") specifies that "all records are public unless otherwise expressly provided by statute." Utah Code Ann. 63-2-201(2). Records that are not public are designated as either "private," "protected," or "controlled." See Utah Code Ann. 63-2-302, -303 and -304. The Department of Corrections denied Mr. Doutis the records he seeks on the grounds that said records are "controlled" and/or "protected." The Department of Corrections further denied the fee waiver requested by Mr. Doutis.

2. The Committee is persuaded that under Utah Code Ann 63-2-203(2)(a) and 203(2)(b) the fee charged to Mr. Doutis is valid and Respondent may charge a reasonable fee. The Committee is persuaded that as the actual fees in the immediate matter exceeds the amount of $50.00, Respondent has the discretion to, and may require the payment of fees before processing petitioners request per Utah Code Ann 63-2-203(8). The Committee is further persuaded that the records associated with Petitioner's "Correctional History" are "private", "protected" and/or "controlled" records under Utah Code Ann 63-2-302, -303 and -304 and the Department of Corrections has properly denied Petitioner access to said "controlled" and "protected" records.

3. The Utah Department of Corrections has therefore properly denied the Petitioner access to said records under Utah Code Ann 63-2-303 and 63-2-304(12).

ORDER

THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED THAT the appeal of Mr. Doutis is denied as to the access of "protected" and "controlled" records per Utah Code Ann 63-2-303 and -304(12) also as to the waiver of fees per Utah Code Ann 63-2-203(2)(a), -203(2)(b), and -203(8).

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 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 14th day of November, 2006.

BY THE STATE RECORDS COMMITTEE

Patricia Smith Mansfield, Chairperson
State Records Committee