State Records Committee Appeal 2007-07

BEFORE THE STATE RECORDS COMMITTEE OF THE STATE OF UTAH

TOM CORLEW, Petitioner, vs.

UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION, Respondent.

DECISION AND ORDER

Case No. 07-07

By this appeal, Tom Corlew seeks access to an administrative Law Judge's notes of a Tax Commission Hearing.

The State Records Committee, having reviewed the materials submitted by the parties, and having heard oral argument and testimony on May 31, 2007, 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 denied Mr. Corlew the records he seeks on the grounds that said documents requested are not records per GRAMA Utah Code Ann. 63-2-103(22)(b)(xi)(B).

2. The Committee is persuaded that the documents/Administrative Law Judge's notes requested by Mr. Corlew are not records as defined by Utah Code Ann. 63-2-103(22)(b)(xi)(B).

3. The Utah State Tax Commission has therefore properly denied Mr. Corlew the documents/Judges notes he seeks per Utah Code Ann. 63-2-103(22)(b)(xi)(B).

ORDER

THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED THAT the appeal of Tom Corlew is denied. The Tax Commission's determination regarding the classification and denial of access to these documents is affirmed.

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.

PENALTY NOTICE

Pursuant to Utah Code Ann. 63-2-403(14)(d), the government entity herein shall comply with the order of the Committee and, if records are ordered to be produced, file (i) a notice of compliance with the records committee upon production of the records; or (ii) a notice of intent to appeal. If the government entity fails to file a notice of compliance or a notice of intent to appeal, the Committee may do either or both of the following: (a) impose a civil penalty of up to $500 for each day of continuing noncompliance; or (b) send written notice of the entity's noncompliance to the Governor for executive branch entities, to the Legislative Management Committee for legislative branch entities, and to the Judicial Council for judicial branch agencies and entities.

Entered this 7th day of June, 2007.

BY THE STATE RECORDS COMMITTEE

Carl Albrecht, Chairperson
State Records Committee