No. 41478 (Amendment): Section R35-1-2. Procedures for Appeal Hearings

(Amendment)

DAR File No.: 41478
Filed: 04/14/2017 01:24:08 PM

RULE ANALYSIS

Purpose of the rule or reason for the change:

Formerly each party was allowed five minutes to present an opening statement before the State Records Committee (Committee). The change omits the five-minute opening statement from the procedures. The opening statements were essentially introductions and summaries of the case, which the Committee has already read. In addition, due to the increased number of hearings the Committee is required to hear each month, this change will shorten the time for each hearing.

Summary of the rule or change:

The change removes Subsection R35-1-2(2), which also entails renumbering the other subsections.

Statutory or constitutional authorization for this rule:

• Subsection 63G-2-502(2)(a)

Anticipated cost or savings to:

the state budget:

This change in no way affects the state budget. It is a procedural change only and will tend to shorten the length of a hearing so the Committee can accommodate more appeals. The Archives provides staff and a venue for the meetings and business of the Committee. This amendment is an effort to maximize the efficiency of the hearing process. No additional resources of the Archives will be necessary, and the state budget is not affected.

local governments:

Local government is affected only as it responds to Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) appeals or make appeals to the Committee. The local governments will experience more efficient use of their time as they appear before the Committee. The budget of local governments will not be affected.

small businesses:

Small businesses will not be affected by these changes and procedures. Small businesses do not respond to government records requests and are not involved in these hearings.

persons other than small businesses, businesses, or local governmental entities:

Any person or citizen making a records request will experience the more efficient use of time by the Committee. The amendment does away with the five-minute opening presentation of the parties. This amendment is an attempt to shorten the length of hearings. Providing the Committee with documentation for the appeal assures the petitioner that the Committee already has seen the petitioner's appeal. The opening statement elimination will serve to maximize the Committee's time for each hearing.

Compliance costs for affected persons:

There is no cost related to this amendment. The Archives supports the Committee in staffing and venue. A more efficient use of time will not affect the cost of this support. The elimination of the opening statements will tend to shorten the time allotted for each hearing but will have no affect of the budget.

Comments by the department head on the fiscal impact the rule may have on businesses:

Small businesses will not be fiscally impacted by the amendment or changes.

David Fleming, Chair

The full text of this rule may be inspected, during regular business hours, at the Office of Administrative Rules, or at:

Administrative Services
Records Committee
346 S RIO GRANDE
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84101-1106

Direct questions regarding this rule to:

• Susan Mumford at the above address, by phone at 801-531-3861, by FAX at 801-531-3867, or by Internet E-mail at [e-mail]

Interested persons may present their views on this rule by submitting written comments to the address above no later than 5:00 p.m. on:

05/31/2017

This rule may become effective on:

06/12/2017

Authorized by:

David Fleming, Chair, State Records Committee

RULE TEXT

R35. Administrative Services, Records Committee.

R35-1. State Records Committee Appeal Hearing Procedures.

R35-1-1. Scheduling Committee Meetings.

(1) The Executive Secretary shall respond in writing to the notice of appeal within seven business days.

(2) Two weeks prior to the Committee meeting or appeal hearing, the Executive Secretary shall post a notice of the meeting on the Utah Public Notice Website.

(3) One week prior to the Committee meeting or appeal hearing, the Executive Secretary shall post a notice of the meeting, indicating the agenda, date, time, and place of the meeting at the building where the meeting is to be held and at the Utah State Archives.

 

R35-1-2. Procedures for Appeal Hearings.

(1) The meeting shall be called to order by the Committee Chair.

[(2) Opening statements shall be presented by the petitioner and the governmental entity. Each party shall be allowed five minutes to present their opening statements before the Committee.]

[(3)](2) Testimony shall be presented by the petitioner and the governmental entity. Each party shall be allowed twenty minutes to present testimony and evidence, to call witnesses, and to respond to questions from Committee members.

[(4)](3) Witnesses providing testimony shall be sworn in by the Committee Chair.

[(5)](4) Questioning of the witnesses and parties by Committee members is permitted.

[(6)](5) The governmental entity must bring the disputed records to the hearing to allow the Committee to view records in camera if it deems an in camera inspection necessary. If the records withheld are voluminous or the governmental entity contends they have not been identified with reasonable specificity, the governmental entity shall notify the Committee and the adverse party at least two days before the hearing and obtain approval from the Committee Chair to bring a representative sample of the potentially responsive records to the hearing, if it is possible to do so.

[(7)](6) Third party presentations may be permitted. Prior to the hearing, the third party shall notify the Executive Secretary of intent to present. Third party presentations shall be limited to five minutes.

[(8)](7) Closing arguments may be presented by the petitioner and the governmental entity. Each party shall be allowed five minutes to present a closing argument and make rebuttal statements.

[(9)](8) After presentation of the evidence, the Committee shall commence deliberations. A Committee Member shall make a motion to grant or to deny the petitioner's request in whole or in part. Following discussion of the motion, the Committee Chair shall call for the question. The motion shall serve as the basis for the Committee Decision and Order. The Committee shall vote and make public the decision of the Committee during the hearing.

[(10)](9) The Committee may adjourn, reschedule, continue, or reopen a hearing on the motion of a member.

[(11)](10) Except as expressly authorized by law, there shall be no communication between the parties and the members of the Committee concerning the subject matter of the appeal before the hearing or prior to the issuance of a final Decision And Order. Any other oral or written communication from the parties to the members of the Committee, or from the members of the Committee to the parties, shall be directed to the Executive Secretary for transmittal.

[(12)](11) The following provisions govern any meeting at which one or more members of the Committee or a party appears telephonically or electronically, pursuant to Utah Code Section 52-4-207.

(a) The anchor location is the physical location from which the electronic meeting originates or from which the participants are connected. The anchor location, unless otherwise designated in the notice, shall be at the offices of the Division of State Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.

(b) If one or more Committee members or parties may be participating electronically or telephonically, public notices of the meeting shall so indicate. In addition, the notice shall specify the anchor location where the members of the Committee not participating electronically or telephonically will be meeting and where interested persons and the public may attend and monitor the open portions of the meeting.

(c) When notice is given of the possibility of a member of the Committee appearing electronically or telephonically, any member of the Committee may do so and shall be counted as present for purposes of a quorum and may fully participate and vote on any matter coming before the Committee. At the commencement of the meeting, or at such time as any member of the Committee initially appears electronically or telephonically, the Committee Chair shall identify for the record all those who are appearing telephonically or electronically. Votes by members of the Committee who are not at the physical location of the meeting shall be confirmed by the Committee Chair.

[(13)](12)(a) If the petitioner wishes to postpone the hearing or withdraw the appeal, the petitioner shall notify the Committee and the governmental entity in writing no later than two days prior to the scheduled hearing date.

(b) The Committee Chair has the discretion to grant or deny a petitioner's request to postpone a hearing based upon: (i) the reasons given by the petitioner in his or her request, (ii) the timeliness of the request, (iii) whether petitioner has previously requested and received a postponement, (iv) any other factor determined to protect the equitable interests of the parties.

(c) The Committee will ordinarily deny a governmental entity's request to postpone the hearing, unless the governmental entity has obtained the petitioner's prior consent to reschedule the hearing date.

 

R35-1-3. Issuing the Committee Decision and Order.

(1) The Decision and Order shall be signed by the Committee Chair and distributed by the Executive Secretary within seven business days after the hearing. Copies of each Decision and Order shall be distributed to the petitioner, the governmental entity and all other interested parties. The original order shall be maintained by the Executive Secretary. A copy of the order shall be made available for public access at the Utah State Archives website.

 

R35-1-4. Committee Minutes.

(1) Purpose. Utah Code Section 52-4-203 requires any public body to establish and implement procedures for the public body's approval of the written minutes of each meeting. This rule establishes procedures for the State Records Committee to approve the written minutes of each meeting.

(2) Authority. This rule is enacted under the authority of Utah Code Sections 52-4-203, 63G-3-201, and 63A-12-101 et seq.

(3) All meetings of the Committee shall be recorded. The recording of the open meeting shall be made available to the public within three business days. Access to the audio recordings shall be provided by the Executive Secretary on the Utah Public Notice Website.

(4) Approved written minutes shall be the official record of the meetings and appeal hearings and shall be maintained by the Executive Secretary.

(a) Written minutes shall be read by members prior to the next scheduled meeting, including electronic meetings.

(b) Written minutes from meetings shall be made available no later than one week prior to the date of the next regularly scheduled Committee meeting.

(c) When minutes are complete but awaiting official approval, they are a public record and must be marked as "Draft."

(d) At the next meeting, at the direction of the Committee Chair, minutes shall be amended and/or approved with individual votes recorded in the minutes. The minutes shall be then marked as "Approved."

(e) When the minutes are "Approved" they will be so noted in the printed and online versions. A copy of the approved minutes shall be made available for public access on the Utah Public Notice Website.

 

KEY: government documents, state records committee, records appeal hearings

Date of Enactment or Last Substantive Amendment: [July 31, 2015]2017

Notice of Continuation: June 3, 2014

Authorizing, and Implemented or Interpreted Law: 63G-2-502(2)(a)

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