What is a Public Record?

According to §63G-2-301 of Utah State Code, the following records are public, except to the extent they contain information expressly permitted to be treated confidentially under the provisions of §63G-2-201(3)(b) and (6)(a):

• Laws;
• The name, gender, gross compensation, job title, job description, business address, business email address, business telephone number, number of hours worked per pay period, dates of employment, and relevant education, previous employment, and similar job qualifications of a current or former employee or officer of the governmental entity, excluding:
  • Undercover law enforcement personnel; and
  • Investigative personnel if disclosure could reasonably be expected to impair the effectiveness of investigations or endanger any individual’s safety;
• Final opinions, including concurring and dissenting opinions, and orders that are made by a governmental entity in an administrative, adjudicative, or judicial proceeding except that if the proceedings were properly closed to the public, the opinion and order may be withheld to the extent that they contain information that is private, controlled, or protected;
• Final interpretations of statutes or rules by a governmental entity unless classified as protected as provided in §63G-2-305(17) or (18) of Utah State Code;
• Information contained in or compiled from a transcript, minutes, or report of the the open portions of a meeting of a governmental entity as provide by §52-4 (Open and Public Meetings Act) of Utah State Code, including the records of all votes of each member of the governmental entity;
• Judicial records unless a court orders the records to be restricted under the rules of civil or criminal procedure or unless the records are private under this chapter;
• Unless otherwise classified as private under §63G-2-303 of Utah State Code, records or parts of records filed with or maintained by county recorders, clerks, treasures, surveyors, zoning commissions, the Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands, the School andInstitutional Trust Lands Administration, the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining, the Division of Water Rights, or other governmental entities that give public notice of:
  • Titles or encumbrances to real property;
  • Restrictions on the use of real property;
  • The capacity of persons to take or convey title to real property; or
  • Tax status for real and personal property;
• Records of the Department of Commerce that evidence incorporations, mergers, name changes, and uniform commercial code filings;
• Data on individuals that would otherwise be private under this chapter if the individual who is the subject of the record has given the governmental entity written permission to make the records available to the public;
• Documentation of the compensation that a governmental entity pays to a contractor or private provider;
• Summary data;
• Voter registration records, including an individual’s voting history, except for a voter registration record or those parts of a voter registration record that are classified as private under §63G-2-301(1)(j) through (m) or withheld under §20-A-2-104(7) of Utah State Code;
• For an elected official, as defined in §11-47-102 of Utah State Code, a telephone number, if available, and email address, if available, where that elected official may be reached directly as required in §53G-7-1203 of Utah State Code;
• For a school community council member, a telephone number, if available, and email address, if available, where that elected official may be reached directly as required in §53G-7-1203 of Utah State Code;
• Annual audited financial statements of the Utah Educational Savings Plan described in Section §53B-8a-111 of Utah State Code; and
• An initiative packet, as defined in §20A-7-101 of Utah State Code, and a referendum packet, as defined in §20A-7-101 of Utah State Code, after the packet is submitted to a county clerk.

Additionally, the following records are normally public, but to the extent that a record is expressly exempt from disclosure, access may be restricted under §63G-2-201(3)(b), 63G-2-302, 304, and 305 of Utah State Code:

• Administrative staff manuals, instructions to staff, and statements of policy;
• Records documenting a contracto’rs of private provider’s compliance with the terms of a contract with a governmental entity;
• Records documenting the services provided by a contractor or a private provider to the extent the records would be public if prepared by the governmental entity;
• Contracts entered into by a governmental entity;
• Any account, voucher, or contract that deals with the receipt or expenditure of funds by a governmental entity;
• Records relating to governmental assistance or incentives publicly disclosed, contracted for, or given by a governmental entity, encouraging a person to expand or relocate a business in Utah, except as proved in §63G-2-305(35) of Utah State Code;
• Chronological logs and initial contact reports;
• Correspondence by and with a governmental entity in which the governmental entity determines or states an opinion upon the rights of the state, a political subdivision, the public, or any person;
• Empirical data contained in drafts if:
  • The empirical data is not reasonably available to the requester elsewhere in a similar form; and 
  • The governmental entity is given a reasonable opportunity to correct any errors or make non substantive changes before release;
• Drafts that are circulated to anyone other than:
  • A governmental entity; 
  • A political subdivision;
  • A federal agency if the governmental entity and the federal agency are jointly responsible for implementation of a program or project that has been legislatively approved;
  • A government-managed cooperation; or
  • A contractor or private provider;
• Drafts that have never been finalized but were relied upon by the governmental entity in carry out action or policy;
• Original data in a computer program if the governmental entity chooses not to disclose the program;
• Arrest warrants after issuance, except that, for good cause, a court may order restricted access to arrest warrants prior to service;
• Search warrants after execution and filing of the return, except that a court, for good cause, may order restricted access to search warrants prior to trial;
• Records that would disclose information relating to formal charges or disciplinary actions against a past or present governmental entity employee if:
  • The disciplinary action has been completed and all time periods for administrative appeal have expired; and
  • The charges on which the disciplinary action was based were sustained;
• Records maintained by the Division of Forest, Fire, and State Lands, the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, or the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining that evidence mineral production on government lands;
• Final audit reports;
• Occupational and professional licenses;
• Business licenses;
• A notice of violation, a notice of agency action under §63G-4-201 of Utah State Code, or similar records used to initiate proceedings for discipline or sanctions against persons regulation by a governmental entity, but not including records that initiate employee discipline; and
• Records that disclose a stand, regulation, policy, guideline, or rule regarding the operation of a correctional facility or the care and control of inmates committed to the custody of a correctional facility; and
• Records that disclose the results of an audit or other inspection assessing a correctional facility’s compliance with a standard, regulation, policy, guideline, or rule described in the statement above.

Note: The list of public records listed above are not exhaustive and should not be used to limit access to records.  Municipalities should always consult their legal counsel if there are any questions as to what does or does not constitute a public record.

According to the provisions of §63G-2-307 of Utah State Code, the records officer may classify a particular record, record series, or information within a record at any time, but is not required to classify a particular record, record series, or information until access to the record is requested.  The records officer may also redesignate a record series or reclassify a record or record series, or information within a record at any time.   

The individual or series of records typically fall into one of four categories: 

• Public (§63G-2-301): those records previously described above.
• Private (§63G-2-302): those records that share the private information of an individual such as:
  • Eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits, social services, welfare benefits, or the determination of benefit levels;
  • An individual’s medical history, diagnosis, condition, treatment, evaluation, or similar medical data;
  • An individual’s home address, home telephone number, date of birth, social security number, federal employer identification number, driver’s license identification card number, insurance coverage, marital status, payroll deductions, or personal financial information related to a person’s payment method; 
  • Information obtained through a criminal background check; and
  • Records of “at-risk government employees”.
• Controlled (§63G-2-304): those records that contain medical, psychiatric, or psychological data about an individual where the governmental entity believes that:
  • Releasing the information in the record would be detrimental to the subject’s mental health or to the safety of any individual; or
  • Releasing the information would constitute a violation of normal professional practice and medical ethics.
• Protected (§63G-2-305): those records that include information such as:
  • Trade secrets;
  • Commercial or financial information that would lead to financial speculations in currencies, securities, or commodities that will interfere with a planned transaction  by the governmental entity or cause substantial financial injury to the governmental entity or state economy;
  • Records, which disclosed, could cause commercial injury to, or confer a competitive advantage upon a potential or actual competitor of, a commercial project entity;
  • Test questions or answers to be used in future license, certification, registration, employment or academic examinations;
  • Records, which disclosed, would impair governmental procurement proceedings or give an unfair advantage to any person proposing to enter into a contract or agreement with a governmental entity;
    • Note: This does not restrict the right of a person to have access to, after the contract or grant has been awarded and signed by all parties.
  • Records, which disclosed, would jeopardize the life or safety of an individual, or security of governmental property, programs, or recordkeeping systems from damage, theft, or other appropriate or use contrary to law or public policy;
  • Records subject to attorney client privilege, or prepared for or by an attorney, consultant, surety, indemnitor, insurer, employee, or agent of a governmental entity for, or in anticipation of, litigation or a judicial, quasi-judicial, or administrative proceeding;
  • Transcripts, minutes, recordings, or reports of the closed portion of a meeting of a public body; or 
  • Criminal investigation information. 

It should be noted that the classification of a record is not permanent and a record that was not classified public under §63G-2 of Utah State Code shall become a public record when the justification for the original or any subsequent restrictive classification no longer exists.  Also, a record shall be presumed to be public 75 years after its creation, except that a record that contains information about an individual 21 years old or younger at the time of the record’s creation shall be presumed to be public 100 years after its creation. (§63G-2-310)