The Vault

State Records Committee agenda

2009-04-07T10:38:00.004-06:00

For an official agenda, go here.

STATE RECORDS COMMITTEE MEETING

The State Records Committee will hold a meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 9, in the Courtyard Meeting Room, State Archives Building, 346 S. Rio Grande St. (450 West), Salt Lake City. This is a public meeting, and anyone can attend. Committee business and two hearings are scheduled.

*Introduction of Gary Ott, Elected Official Representative, newly appointed member of the Committee

*First Hearing – Tina Wollenberg vs. Summit County. Ms. Wollenberg is appealing the denial of recorded interviews of her minor children by the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.

*Second Hearing – Marvin Melville vs. Salt Lake City Corporation. Mr. Melville is appealing the denial of a draft of an affidavit.

*Approval of the March 12, 2009, meeting minutes of the State Records Committee
*Approval of General Schedule items
*Appeals received
*Cases in District Court
*Draft of proposal dealing with repeated postponements and rescheduling of hearings – Paul Tonks
*Other Business
*Adjournment – Next meeting scheduled – Thursday, May 14, 2009

Treating the meth cops

2009-04-06T09:06:00.001-06:00

Just about all government contracts are public records, and last week the Utah Attorney General's Office gave us copies of the contracts with the American Detoxification Foundation.

The contracts are attached below. The 2008 contract includes a description of the treatment designed by L. Ron Hubbard.

A PDF of the University of Utah's police and firefighter health study is here.

This 2003 New York Times article discusses how firefighters completed the detoxification treatments after the Sept. 11 attacks. The article mentions a report completed years earlier by a Ronald E. Gots that was harsh in its assessment of the treatment.

Gots called me Friday to say the science and his opinions remain the same.

— NC

AG%20Detoxification%20Contract%202-17-07%20for%20120%20days.pdf

AG%20Detoxification%20Contract%204-30-08%20%20to%209-30-08.pdf

Treating the meth cops

2009-04-05T10:27:00.004-06:00

FAA denial is for the birds

2009-03-30T10:37:00.003-06:00

If you just watched basketball all weekend, you may have missed this great public-... make that would-be-public-records story about birds colliding with airplanes.

Birds brought down the passenger jet which crashed into the Hudson River earlier this year. According to the Associated Press article, the Federal Aviation Administration after the crash said it would make its database of bird strikes available to the public. Then the FAA reversed itself.

From the article:

The government agency argued that some carriers and airports would stop reporting incidents for fear the public would misinterpret the data and hold it against them. The reporting is voluntary because the FAA rejected a National Transportation Safety Board recommendation 10 years ago to make it mandatory.

You might be asking: Why do reporters need this database? We know there's a problem with birds at airports.

Yes, but do some airports have bigger bird problems than others? And are airports — and airlines — responding to the problems appropriately?

— NC

Document dump

2009-03-21T10:37:00.001-06:00

President Bill Clinton perfected the trick that politicians ever since have been practicing -- the Friday night document dump.

Enter Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.

After a leisurely pace of bill signing so far (just 18), Huntsman put his Jon Hancock into overdrive and signed 103 bills Friday -- nearly a quarter of the 450 or so bills passed during the session.

Then, in true Clintonian fashion, he sent out a press release after 5 p.m. Friday and quickly disappeared -- unavailable for comment should anyone want to know why he signed this or that bill, particularly a handful of controversial ones.

Nosey reporters had to settle for spokeswoman Lisa Roskelley. And, frankly, she didn't know the ins and outs of some of the bills or the governor's reasoning.

Here's a bet: When the Guv signs the landmark liquor law reform that he pushed so hard to get through the Legislature, it won't be with 102 other bills and announced in a Friday evening document dump after he's left the building.

-- Dan Harrie

Are you in a gang database?

2009-03-16T07:54:00.004-06:00

The gentleman above probably is not how most of us define "gang member," yet when I searched for Utah gang images on Google, this is one of the photographs which appeared.

Some of the defense attorneys I spoke with last week would use this as a point. How do we know who is being called a gang member?

Reporter Melinda Rogers and I asked that in an article about gang databases and a forthcoming statewide database. The federal government regulates who police input into such a database and how those names can remain.

If you want to know whether you're in the database, the easiest thing to do is call your local police jurisdiction and ask. If you don't receive an answer, you can file a request under the Utah Government Records Access and Management Act. But that may not yield your answer, either.

The act grants you some records when you are the subject. But the law also permits law enforcement to withhold records deemed part of ongoing investigations.

— NC

SUNSHINE, OH SUNSHINE

2009-03-13T14:24:00.006-06:00

On March 23, the League of Women Voters Salt Lake Chapter will host a discussion about what the Obama Administration is -- and should be -- doing to promote open government.

The event will include a Webcast of the fourth-annual Sunshine Week National Dialogue at the Center for American Progress. That dialogue will feature individuals involved in crafting the Obama Administration's open government directive and will explain the initiative's goals, receive feedback from the audience, and let members of the public know how they can continue to participate in the discussion.

Following the webcast, a panel will discuss the implications for Utah.

The free event will be held at 6 p.m. at the Salt Lake City Library and will include the presentation of the Society of Professional Journalists' annual Sunshine and Black Hole Awards.

-- mdl

Flesh-eating case: Board votes to release sum

2009-03-12T12:34:00.005-06:00

The State Records Committee on Thursday ordered the University of Utah to say what it paid a women who lost limbs to a flesh-eating bacteria.

In a unanimous vote, the committee said the dollar figure is a public record and must be disclosed. The committee did not address whether other terms of the settlement must be released.

The university can appeal the decision by filing a lawsuit in state court.

Lisa Speckman lost three limbs from a flesh-eating bacteria she contracted while under the care of university-trained medical staff. The Tribune sought terms of the legal settlement between the university and Speckman and her family.

In written denials and at Thursday's hearing, a university attorney argued the settlement, including any money it paid, was a health record protected by federal law. The Speckmans' attorney also wrote the committee, saying disclosing the records would invade the family's privacy.

Speckman's husband, Stephen Speckman, is a former Deseret News reporter who himself used state and federal record laws to pry information from the government.

The Tribune argued money is not a health record. Also, the newspaper wanted the settlement to help report on the larger issue of medical mistakes, the consequences and how to prevent them.

— NC

Stimulus for government transparency

2009-03-12T04:19:00.000-06:00

Two years later, it appears there will be someone to settle disputes between the federal government and citizens seeking information from it.

Congress this week approved $1 million to fund an ombudsman that will try to resolve disputes arising under the Freedom of Information Act.

In other words, if you request documents from the FBI, the Department of Defense, the the U.S. Forest Service or any other unit of the federal government, and are denied, you might be able to ask the ombudsman to review the case.

"This is an important step towards having a fully functioning FOIA ombudsman," said Rick Blum, coordinator of the Sunshine in Government Initiative. "For too many years, government transparency has been in crisis."

The ombudsman was created in 2007, but Congress and the Bush Administration did not supply fundiing for the post.

State Records Committee agenda

2009-03-07T03:58:00.000-07:00

For an official, more complete copy of the agenda, go here.

STATE RECORDS COMMITTEE MEETING
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

The State Records Committee will hold a meeting at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, March 12.
The meeting will be held in the Courtyard Meeting Room, State Archives Building, 346 S. Rio Grande St. (450 West), Salt Lake City. This is a public meeting, and anyone can attend. Committee business and one hearing are scheduled.

* First Hearing – Pamela Manson, the Salt Lake Tribune vs. University of Utah. Ms. Monson is appealing the denial of a settlement amount paid by the University of Utah in a malpractice suit to which the university was named a party.

* Approval of the February 12, meeting minutes of the State Records Committee

* Legislative updates-Patricia Smith-Mansfield, Director of Archives

* Appeals received

* Cases in District Court

* Introduction of Gary Ott, Elected Official Representative

* Discussion of Administrative Rules changes

* draft of proposal dealing with repeated postponements and rescheduling hearings

* Other Business

* Adjournment – Next meeting scheduled –Thursday, April 9, 2009

Individuals wishing to comment during the meeting should notify Susan Mumford, Executive Secretary of the State Records Committee, and should be in attendance at the public meeting. The executive secretary will also accept written comments before the meeting but no later than 6 p.m. March 10. Please mail or deliver those comments to:

State Records Committee
Utah State Archives
346 S. Rio Grande
Salt Lake City, UT 84101

What this journalist doesn't want reported

2009-03-03T15:58:00.004-07:00

As a newspaper reporter, Stephen Speckman exposed how government functioned and the mistakes it make.

Now Speckman is asking for the result of one government mistake to remain hidden.

Speckman's attorney has sent a letter asking the State Records Committee to not order the release of a legal settlement between Speckman, his wife and the University of Utah.

Speckman's wife, Lisa Speckman, lost three limbs from a flesh-eating bacteria she contracted while under the care of university-trained medical staff. The university is refusing to disclose what it paid to the Speckmans to settle their lawsuit.

The Tribune has appealed to the records committee and has a hearing before it on March 12. In a letter to the committee, a copy of which is attached below, the Speckmans' attorney has claimed disclosing the money paid and other terms will invade the couple's privacy. The Tribune has argued the law requires government to disclose the public money it spends.

Stephen Speckman was a respected military reporter for Deseret News. He left the newspaper earlier this year.

On online search for Stephen Speckman's articles reveals he made regular use of the Freedom of Information Act and the Utah Government Records Access and Management Act.

— NC

Speckman1.pdf Speckman2.pdf

H.B. 122 takes a turn...

2009-02-25T09:22:00.002-07:00

From our woman on The Hill, Cathy McKitrick:

A bill that would restrict public access to some government records, cleared the Senate Government Operations Committee on Tuesday after significant changes were made.
"The measure originally sought to prevent the balancing test" weighing public access vs. privacy interests, said Jeff Hunt, an attorney representing the Utah Media Coalition. The coalition initially opposed HB122, which is sponsored by Rep. Douglas Aagard, R-Kaysville, and backed by state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.
When a government record is classified as protected or private, someone can argue that the public benefit of disclosing the information outweighs the need for privacy.
After reaching consensus on new language for the bill Monday, Hunt said he is on board with what he views as a fair compromise.
"We had frank discussions that went clear into the night," Hunt said, crediting Shurtleff for hearing the concerns of media and other public interest groups.
The new version of the bill requires that only one category require clear and convincing evidence for disclosure -- namely, records that would jeopardize the life and safety of an individual.
"We feel this compromise gives protection in investigations where a life could be at stake," Shurtleff told committee members Tuesday.
For seven other categories, the requestor would have to prove by a preponderance of the evidence -- or slightly more than 50 percent -- that the records should be made public, Shurtleff said.
The measure moves to the full Senate for further consideration.

The bad week that was

2009-02-23T05:20:00.001-07:00

Thank God it's Monday. You don't hear that often, but after everything that happened to me last week on the records front, I want a fresh start.

I confess I don't like House Bill 122, though I'm trying to remember the arguments in favor of it. The bill passed the House last week, but it's still just a problem for another day.

Last week, I received word from the Ogden Records Board that it denied my appeal for certain employment records related to former police officer Ken Hammond. Ogden does not subscribe to the State Records Committee appeal system, so The Tribune has to file suit against the city if it wants to pursue this further. My bosses have not given me an indication the newspaper will do that.

The board's denial, a copy of which is attached below, probably ensures the pending criminal and civil court cases against Hammond will be the only vehicles for learning details of his time on the police force.

To ensure I would be beaten down by three levels of government, the feds sought to crush my spirits, too. The Mine Safety and Health Administration sent me a copy of a 2001 report about the Martin County Coal impoundment failure, which was one of my first FOIA requests to Obama Administration. The problem is: I asked for the 2003 report — which the government (now under two presidents) has been withholding from release.

And I'm not the only who had problems last week. Check out this article about meetings in Highland. In my experience, when one member of a governing body complains about transparency issues with the rest of the board, there's some kind of problem.

— NC

OgdenRecordsReviewBoardDecision.pdf

Pretty shiny things

2009-02-22T04:51:00.000-07:00

There are plenty of pretty shiny things to be found in Wikileaks' latest treasure trove -- a Congressional Research Service archive of nearly 7,000 nifty reports.

The reports aren't classified, but the CRS will only release the reports -- on everything from military machinery to agricultural subsidies -- to members of Congress. Those members sometimes make the reports available for public consumption, but until this month most collections of CRS reports were piecemeal, including only a few hundred reports.

Utah doesn't appear to get much attention from the CRS, however. Only one of the reports names the Beehive State in its title: "Utah Emergency Management and Homeland Security Statutory Authorities Summarized" -- and that study is as boring as its label suggests. It's basically just a handy-to-have list of statutes detailing who does what if Putin rears his ugly head and invades Salt Lake City.

Of perhaps greater interest to the open-government sickos who read this blog (OK, that would be the open government sickos who write this blog) is a report from last year on the status of FOIA and the efforts by the 109th and 110th Congresses to make it better (or worse, depending on how you look at the world.)

The full archive can be found here.
mdl

H.B. 122 heating up

2009-02-20T05:28:00.001-07:00

The legislation which would limit access to some public records has passed the Utah House and that's intensifying opponents.

Joel Campbell, an assistant professor of communications at BYU, sent an e-mail to journalists on Thursday asking for them to get loud and organized. Maybe Campbell was inspired by some fishermen.

The Spectrum in St. George published an editorial Thursday opposing the bill. Other Utah newspapers have published similar editorials.

The attorney general's office, which is backing the bill, says House Bill 122 will preserve attorney work product and protect criminal investigations.

An excerpt of Campbell's e-mail and his talking points are below.

— NC

Dear Friends of Open Government

You can make a difference by making a call or writing something today. Its (sic) time to alert everyone we know, citizens, journalists and officials about HB122, sponsored by Rep. Doug Aagard, R-Kaysville.

HB122 passed the House yesterday. We need to contact Senators. I have attached new talking points that address the bill as amended in the House. Please editorialize on it, blog about it, facebook it, twitter it and distribute widely and, most importantly, call, fax or write your senator! We should also call and write Mark Shurtleff, whose office is pushing this bill and ask the Governor to veto this bill if it comes to his desk. We are going to lose this one if we don't start communicating our concerns to senators.

H.B.122.Talking.Points.02.18.09.pdf

Change has come to... wait... hold the phone

2009-02-19T13:08:00.006-07:00

Think the Obama Administration is going to arbitrarily let go of eight years of secrecy and executive power grabbing?

Wake up and smell the FOIAs..

The Justice Department You Can Believe In is defending Bush administration decisions to keep secret many documents about domestic wiretapping, data collection on travelers and U.S. citizens, and interrogation of suspected terrorists, writes the Associated Press.

"The signs in the last few days are not entirely encouraging," said Jameel Jaffer, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, told the AP.

Added a frustrated ACLU executive director Anthony Romero: "This is not change."

-mdl

In camera

2009-02-19T04:11:00.001-07:00

The Salt Lake City Police Department has written a four-page policy on how the new Pioneer Park cameras are to be used.

A PDF of that policy can be found here.

The policy does not address what happens when someone outside the police department wants a copy of the video.

When I asked police Chief Chris Burbank about this Wednesday, he described the recordings as "private" information, similar to that of calls to a police dispatcher.

But I have received copies of Salt Lake City dispatch recordings before via a GRAMA request.

Martha Stonebrook, a senior attorney for the city, gave a more-measured response when I called her Wednesday. She said requests would be reviewed on a "case-by-case basis." That's in tune with GRAMA.

The law says records are public unless they are expressly exempt from disclosure. The catch is there are lots of statutes that can be interpreted — correctly as not — as closing a record. Hypothetically, the city could deny record requests for video footage and argue the footage invades someone's personal privacy.*

But that would seem to play into the hands of the ACLU, which has made a similar argument against having cameras at all.

The city may be on firmer ground if someone requested footage of a suspected crime. GRAMA makes exemptions for evidence in a criminal case.

— NC

* I am not an attorney and frequently remind myself of that.

Dear Rocky Anderson:

2009-02-18T12:37:00.002-07:00

An open letter to former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson:

Dear Mr. Anderson:

Thank you for your recent letter concerning The Tribune's coverage of Wally Bugden. It's always nice to hear from readers. Hell, at this point, it's nice to have readers.

While I have no capacity to speak for The Tribune as a whole, I say you're free to criticize the newspaper. The Tribune shines a critical light on many and is not above accepting the same.

But can you shoot a little bit of your criticism toward the city of Ivins?

Ever since Mr. Bugden was arrested, The Tribune's crime desk has been asking Ivins police to give us a statement, a police report, a poem, a crop circle pattern, an interpretive dance or something else indicating what happened.

Thus far the answers have all been no. The police department has denied our GRAMA request.

That means we don't know the facts of Mr. Bugden's arrest — only that he was booked into the Washington County jail on suspicion of public intoxication.

That could mean he was harmless in the lotus position, as you claim.* Or he was running drunk up Snow Canyon Parkway, shouting the rules of evidence and asking Relief Society members to tug on his bow tie.

I'm making up that latter version of events. But I can't verify your information, either, and everyone is left to wonder what really happened.

Let me know if you hear anything from Ivins. Thanks again for writing. And, for heaven's sake, please keep reading.

Sincerely,

Nate Carlisle
Salt Lake Tribune

*If true, then a guy with access to a free legal defense decides to get drunk and ornery and the the best he can think of is the lotus position? Public intoxication is wasted on the middle-aged and well educated.

— NC

Hiding all over

2009-02-13T07:42:00.005-07:00

The state's two big newspapers published editorials today opposing HB122.

Click here to read the Salt Lake Tribune editorial.

The Deseret News editorial is here.

While HB122 might discuss hiding documents, Cache County opted to hide its discussions over a new county attorney. News organizations asked the county council to hold the discussions in public.

— NC

Access... finally

2009-02-12T12:26:00.004-07:00

After months of confusion, The Spanish Fork News will receive the two police initial contact reports it sought.

The State Records Committee ruled unanimously in favor of reporter Hilarie Orman and directed the Utah County Sheriff's Office to provide the reports it has been denying her for months.

Confusion replaced drama at today's hearing. A representative from the Utah County Attorney's Office actually agreed with Orman that the documents she sought were public. The attorney said her office did not understand what Orman was seeking. The office, and apparently the county commission, too, thought Orman wanted other related documents and not an initial contact report.

Initial contact reports are public under state law. I listened to this morning's hearing and the back and forth discussions over how the two sides got confused, but I still don't understand what the problem was.

Maybe Orman could have been more clear. Also, maybe Utah County could have been more open with its documentation in order to let Orman take what she wanted.

It's also still apparent to me Utah County was placing the burden on Orman to show why the record should be released. That is not how the law works. The burden is on government to show why the record should not be disclosed.

— NC

The arguing will be over

2009-02-10T14:09:00.007-07:00

UPDATE: A Standard-Examiner editorial on Wednesday voiced strong opposition to HB122. The newspaper also published this editorial cartoon.

The debate over public records legislation sounds a lot like an argument about whether government is always right.

HB122 — filed at the request of the Attorney General's Office — would remove avenues of appeal for records associated with law-enforcement proceedings, government audits and personnel matters.

In other words, if the bill passes, and you want a police report or a copy of a government audit, and the government denies your request, you may be out of luck.

There's no more administrative appeals — which is currently a cornerstone of Utah's records laws, called GRAMA. Or, from another perspective, there's no more "second guessing."

From the Standard-Examiner:

Patrick Nolan, of the state Attorney General's Office, said during a legislative committee meeting Monday morning that the court system and state boards are "second-guessing" law enforcement's classification of restricted documents.

Nolan may have been talking about the Utah Supreme Court. In a 2008 ruling on a GRAMA lawsuit, the supremes effectively said just because a government agency classifies a record as exempt from disclosure, doesn't mean the government is correct.

I cited this ruling today when I appeared before Ogden's records board. Ogden has classified some personnel records as exempt from disclosure. I argued the city is wrong and the documents should be disclosed.

If HB122 passes, I may not get to make this argument again. The government will be right — whether it is or not.

— NC

Feds saying adios, au revoir to wrong immigrants

2009-02-08T05:26:00.001-07:00

A Salt Lake City-based immigration task force approaches the home of suspected criminal immigrant last year. Below, an arrested suspect is taken to a detention center.

A Freedom of Information Act lawsuit has shed light on how immigration enforcers have been doing their job.

Documents suggest rather than finding the worst lawbreaking immigrants, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement just took the immigrants they could find. You can read the report from the Migration Policy Institute here.

The report discusses fugitive apprehension programs, such as those operated in Salt Lake City. The report relies heavily on documents obtained through suing ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under FOIA.

The report's conclusion says:

NFOP was established to further important goals: locating, apprehending, and removing fugitive aliens who endanger the nation or their communities. Congress has exponentially increased NFOP’s budget to enable ICE to achieve this mission.

Yet ICE’s own data indicate NFOP has failed to focus on the priorities it claimed in justifying its program to Congress. Since shifting the objective in January 2006 to 1,000 arrests per fugitive operations team, and crediting arrests of some nonfugitives towards this total, the program has apprehended the easiest targets, not the most dangerous ones.

— NC

State Records Committee agenda

2009-02-07T03:03:00.001-07:00

For the full meeting notice, go here.

STATE RECORDS COMMITTEE MEETING
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

The State Records Committee will hold a meeting on 9:30 a.m. Thursday, February 12 in the Courtyard Meeting Room, State Archives Building, 346 South Rio Grande Street (450 West), Salt Lake City. This is a public meeting. Committee business and three hearings are scheduled.

*First Hearing – Tina Wollenberger vs. Summit County. Ms. Wollenberger is appealing the denial of copies of a video taped interview of her minor son by the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.

*Second Hearing – Hilarie Orman, Spanish Fork News vs. Utah County. Ms. Orman is appealing the denial of incident reports from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.

*Approval of the January 8, 2009, meeting minutes of the State Records Committee

*Introduction of Scott Daniels, Citizen Representative

*Approval of Retention Schedule Items

*Discussion of Administrative Rules changes

*Annual Report for 2008

*Other Business

*Adjournment – Next meeting scheduled – Thursday, March 12, 2009

Individuals wishing to comment during the meeting should notify Susan Mumford, Executive Secretary of the State Records Committee, and should be in attendance at the public meeting. The executive secretary will also accept written comments before the meeting but no later than February 9, 2009, at 6:00 p.m. Please mail or deliver those comments to:

State Records Committee
Utah State Archives
346 S. Rio Grande
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

Would you like to hear the discussions in Cache County?

2009-02-06T07:25:00.005-07:00

A media consortium* is asking the Cache County Council to stay where everyone can see them when it appoints a new attorney.

The Herald Journal in Logan says the news outlets are arguing the county attorney is an important enough job that the public deserves to hear next week's deliberations.

The council chairman, meanwhile, has pointed to Utah's open meeting laws, which say meetings may be held in private when discussing the “character, professional competence, or physical or mental health of an individual.”

The article raises an interesting topic. While state and federal laws permits some public business to be done behind closed doors, government agencies aren't necessarily obligated to work that way.

— NC

*Isn't it amazing how using the word "consortium" makes something sound big and impressive.

Numbers that make you care

2009-02-02T04:01:00.002-07:00

Tell me which of these scenarios would most make you care.

A) A brutal crime is happening in your community.

B) A brutal crime is happening... somewhere. We're not really sure where.

I'm guessing your answer is A. But the U.S. Department of Justice seems to hope you'll be just as educated and empowered to act under B.

The real topic here is human trafficking. The justice department issued a report last month discussing this crime — which disproportionally affects women and helps fuel the sex trade and slave labor — and the rates of occurrence in the United States. You can find the report here.

But the report never breaks down the statistics to tell us how much this is happening from region to region and state to state. Utah has a justice department-funded task force and advocacy group to fight human trafficking, yet when I called the justice department to ask for Utah statistics, I was told they aren't available.

It's reasonable to know whether — or how much — we need to monitor human trafficking in Utah. It's one thing when a brutal crime occurs in some abstract setting. It's another thing when it happens where you live.

Below is a Freedom of Information Act request aimed at learning how much to care. Click here for a guide on signs someone you know may be trafficking victim.

— NC

* The photo is from a Michigan State University program discussing human trafficking.

HumanTraffickingFOIA.pdf