State Records Committee Appeal 07-13

BEFORE THE STATE RECORDS COMMITTEE OF THE STATE OF UTAH

RUSS RIZZO AND THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, Petitioner, vs.

CITY OF SOUTH SALT LAKE, Respondent.

DECISION AND ORDER

Case No. 07-13

By this appeal, Russ Rizzo and the Salt Lake Tribune, seek that the State Records Committee overturn the denial for records request from City of South Salt Lake and compel the City of South Salt Lake to comply fully with the original GRAMA request. The State Records Committee, having reviewed the materials submitted by the parties, and having heard oral argument and testimony on August 9, 2007, now issues the following Decision and Order.

STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR DECISION

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 committee recognizes the City of South Salt Lake has classified the requested data as public by their statements.
A governmental entity may charge a reasonable fee to cover the governmental entity's actual cost of providing a record Utah Code Ann. 63-2-203(1). The committee is persuaded that the City of South Salt Lake may charge a reasonable fee to cover the actual cost of providing a record pursuant to Utah Code Ann. 63-2-203(1).

GRAMA specifies that, "In response to a request, a governmental entity is not required to create a record, compile, format, manipulate, package, summarize, or tailor information or provide a record in a particular format, medium or program not currently maintained by the governmental entity." See Utah Code Ann. 63-2-201(8)(a)(i)(ii)(iii). The Committee finds the City of South Salt Lake can provide output in a format that is regularly available and currently maintained by the governmental entity without creating a record, compiling, formatting, manipulating, packaging, summarizing, or tailoring information. Therefore, the City of South Salt Lake shall provide an output in a format that is regularly available and currently maintained to the requestor.

ORDER

THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED THAT the appeal of Russ Rizzo and the Salt Lake Tribune is granted in part. The committee recognizes the city has by their statements, classified this information as public; and finds that providing output in a format that is regularly available is not creating or compiling a record. Therefore, the City of South Salt Lake shall provide an output in a format that is regularly available and currently maintained to the requestor.

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 entities.

Entered this 15th day of August, 2007.

BY THE STATE RECORDS COMMITTEE

CARL ALBRECHT, Chairperson
State Records Committee