HB 526 Utah House · 2025 General Session

Government Records Access and Management Amendments

HB 526 amends Utah's Government Records Access and Management Act to improve transparency and fairness in public records requests. It requires government entities to provide an itemized cost estimate before processing requests if fees exceed a set amount, and creates an optional appeal process for disputed fees. The bill also establishes a government records ombudsman to assist with fee disputes and clarifies that agencies must disclose work-related contact information for local education agency employees. These changes directly affect citizens requesting public records and local government agencies handling those requests, making the fee process more predictable and accessible.

Bill status introduced 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 19, 2025 Last action Mar 8, 2025

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Introduced → Substitute #1 · 7 edits

MODERATE

This bill modifies the Government Records Access and Management Act to improve transparency and reduce costs for public records requests. Key changes include making fee estimates mandatory for requests over $50, allowing optional direct appeals to the State Records Committee for high-cost requests over $500, expanding the government records ombudsman's role to include fee dispute mediation, and clarifying rules for charging employee time costs. These changes aim to make the public records system more predictable and accessible while maintaining protections for sensitive information.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of the government records ombudsman's responsibilities to include fee disputes and modifies appeal procedures for high-cost requests, making the system more accessible to requesters facing significant fees.

REQUIREMENT

Governmental entities must now provide an itemized fee estimate before processing requests expected to cost over $50, and cannot collect fees until this estimate is provided.

For requests expected to cost over $500, estimates must include detailed job descriptions, expected hours, and hourly rates for each employee involved.

Requesters can now optionally appeal fee estimates over $500 directly to the State Records Committee instead of first appealing to the chief administrative officer.

State Records Committee reviews of access denials, fee waivers, and fee disputes are now de novo (starting fresh) rather than reviewing only the lower decision.

Political subdivisions must allow optional direct appeals to the State Records Committee for fee estimates exceeding $500.

Employee time costs for processing records requests are now charged at actual hourly pay rates rather than the lowest paid employee's salary.

ENFORCEMENT

The government records ombudsman's role is expanded to include mediating fee disputes between requesters and governmental entities.

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Full legislative history

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Committee

Feb 19, 2025

Introduced

House/ 1st reading (Introduced)

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors