SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Tuesday, Utah lawmakers amended a proposal that would allow local governments to charge additional fees for public record requests to exempt members of the media.
“The intention of this bill was never to stop the press from having their normal access,” said Rep. Dan Johnson, a Republican from Logan who sponsored the bill.
The original proposal would have allowed government agencies to impose additional fees on members of the public who request government records multiple times within a 10-day period.
It passed through the Utah House last week over opposition from Democrats, three Republicans and lobbyists for news organizations who argued that would have a “chilling effect” and discourage people from requesting records that they’re entitled to access under state and federal law.
An amendment passed through a Senate committee on Tuesday carves out an exception for members of the media, who can still request records under the existing fee structure.
Government agencies in Utah are generally allowed to charge members of the public for the cost of processing requests for public records, which include tracking them down and having attorneys review them. However, the law encourages government officials to provide records of public interest free of charge.
Under the Government Records Access and Management Act, agencies cannot charge for the first 15 minutes spent responding to a request — a provision that attorneys and media organizations say is necessary to satisfy many straightforward requesters for information. Johnson’s proposal would have allowed government entities like counties, cities and water agencies to charge for the first 15 minutes of time spent if the requester submitted multiple requests within a 10-day period.
The intent, Johnson said, was to deter so-called vexatious requesters who slow down government functions and siphon away resources from government officials, particularly in small cities and counties.
Cache County Clerk-Auditor Jess Bradfield told lawmakers last week that one individual had filed 40% of the record requests processed in the past 10 months.
Though it’s unclear whether a state can selectively exempt certain groups from a law designed to provide information to all members of the public, Renae Cowley Laub, a lobbyist for the Utah Media Coalition, said it made more sense to pursue “bad actors” rather than impose fees on all legitimate requesters, including journalists.
“This, through negotiations, is what was determined to be the best outcome for this session,” she said.
