The Associated Press reports that lawyers for the teen accused of killing a soccer referee want the case closed.

The lawyers requested the order after a Salt Lake City television station asked for permission to film in the juvenile courtroom during the teen’s initial appearance. The teen is charged with homicide by assault after he punched referee Ricardo Portillo in the head after Portillo issued him a yellow-card warning at an April soccer game.

Portillo died a week later as a result of the injury.

A new court rule allows TV cameras in courtrooms for hearings. The rule does allow...

Do you have an interest in open government? The Utah State Records Committee is looking for you.

The committee is seeking applications from people interested in filling the vacancy for a second public member on the seven-member body. The committee hears appeals of records requests, as well as establishes records retention policies.

The board includes representatives of local government, news media, private business, the governor’s office and the public.

The current opening was created when the Utah State Legislature amended the law defining the committee’s membership, converting th...

Just as Utah officials are looking for ways to restrict access to mug shots, New Jersey is going in the opposite direction.

The Daily Record of Parsippany, N.J., reports that a bill is moving through the Garden State’s legislature classifying booking photos as public records. The state’s open-records laws were ambiguous on the point, with some counties denying access and others granting it.

“Releasing pictures of defendants puts a face with a name,” the bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman Ronald S. Dancer, R-Ocean County, told the paper. “These pictures serve important public purposes, including protecting the transpa...

While Amy Meyer nearly became the first Utahn to be prosecuted for taking pictures of an “agricultural operation”, her case is a reminder that other state have — or are considering — so-called “ag-gag” bills.

Meyer was facing charges under a 2012 law that made it illegal to photograph or video record agricultural operations — farms, ranches, slaughterhouses, just to name a few — while trespassing or entering the premises illegally. That last part was inserted in the bill after critics said the proposed law would have had kids on school field trips hauled off to jail if they took a picture of the farm they were touring.

A 3rd District Court judge’s ruling in an open-records case does more than force the Utah Legislature pay $15,000 in attorney’s fees.

Judge L.A. Dever’s April 30 ruling on behalf of the Utah Democratic Party affirms that government agencies should waive fees when a records request benefits the general public. Dever rejected the Legislature’s attempt to charge the Democrats almost $15,000 for copies of correspondence and other documents related to the redistricting effort.

“I’ve always maintained if there were a case that qualified for public interest, this was it,” said Joel Campbell, an associate professor of...

Since 2009, Utahns have been able to log on to a state website and see how much public employees are paid, as well as what agencies and governments were spending.

The goal behind the Transparent Utah website was to make government more, well, transparent. And in some ways it helps. Entities with budgets in excess of $1 million are required to post their books on the site.

But, as was discussed during Tuesday’s Transparency Advisory Board meeting, and heavy users of the site know, not everyone is doing that.

For example, out of 272 counties, municipalities and service districts that...

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision announced Monday, stated that there is no constitutional right for people to obtain public records from states they don’t live in

.According to the Reporters’ Commitee for Freedom of the Press, the high court upheld a provision in Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act that states non-residents cannot file records requests.

“This Court has repeatedly made clear that there is no constitutional right to obtain all the information provided by FOIA laws,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court.

The suit was brought by Mark J. McBurney an...

Rosemary Cundiff, the state’s records ombudsman, recently posted an explanation of what fees can be charged under the Utah Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA).

To put it in a nutshell, government entities can charge “reasonable fees” to cover the costs of producing records. The idea is that the employee who is filling the records request is being pulled away from other duties and there’s the cost of the paper and toner in the copier.

During the HB477 debacle in 2011, then-Rep. John Dougall attempted to expand the definition of reasonable fee to include the cost of benefits for said employee, t...

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund ranked Utah ninth in the nation for transparency on financial matters.

The group gave Utah a grade of B+ for its transparency website. It noted that Utah’s site provides “checkbook” level information on what government entities are spending, and cited how the data encouraged the state to cut back on buying bottled water to save money.

The state did receive some low marks for not having searchable and downloadable formats for economic-development tax credits, or information to hold the companies receiving the tax breaks accountable.

A Farmington group is giving the Utah Department of Transportation bad grades when it comes to transparency.

As Lee Davidson reported, a UDOT project manager told Lori Kalt, president of the SaveFarmington group, that the agency would meet with her group to discuss the West Davis Corridor plan — but only if journalists were not attending the meeting.

The West Davis Corridor would extend the Legacy Highway into Davis and Weber counties, and Kalt and other activists don’t want the highway going through Farmington Bay.

Kalt said the group agreed to the condition, as well as submitting...

Two years after a gunman shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the head, documents about his case remain under government seal.

The Associated Press reports that three news organizations — The Washington Post, KPNX-TV in Phoenix and Phoenix Newspapers Inc., which publishes the Arizona Republic, want U.S. District Judge Larry Burns to unseal any remaining documents in the case, as well as release redacted information that is no longer required to be secret.

Giffords, a Democratic member of Congress, was shot in the head Jan. 8, 2011, by Jared Lee Loughner during a meet-and-greet outside a Tucson supermarket. Loughner...

While Utah’s liquor laws sometimes leave people shaking their heads, it was neighboring Idaho that won recognition for attempting to ban a vodka made in Ogden.

This past week, The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression awarded the Idaho State Liquor Commission one of nine 2013 Jefferson Muzzle awards for barring the sale of Five Wives Vodka in the state.

The Jefferson Muzzles are given around April 13, Jefferson’s birthday, to recognize the foundation’s namesake’s dedication to free expression by spotlighting those who try to trample that right.

In the Five W...

In the latest round in the fight against mug-shot websites, Salt Lake County has copied an idea from the recording industry.

As The Salt Lake Tribune’s Mike Gorrell reports, the Salt Lake County Council unanimously voted to deny a GRAMA request Tuesday from Kyle Prall for almost 1,400 mug shots taken in January. Prall is the owner of the bustedmugshots.com website, which posts booking photos from around the country.

Prall’s site offers to remove mug shots of people who died, had their charges dismissed or were found innocent for free, while others have to pay fees, starting at $98, to remove the picture from t...

If the 2011 Utah State Legislature, which railroaded HB477 through, was regarded as the worst for access to public records, 2013 was a significant improvement.

“In the end, it was good for open government,” said Linda Petersen, president of the Utah Foundation for Open Government.

One noticeable difference: Legislators were more willing to consult with the Utah Media Coalition — which includes The Salt Lake Tribune and other Utah media outlets — on open-government bills. In contrast, HB477, which gutted the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA), was written in closed-door meetings and rushed thr...

Lucy Dalglish, the dean of the University of Maryland’s journalism school, recently called for more incentives for government employees to hand over public documents.

“Nobody ever got fired from a government job for not responding to a FOIA request fast enough,” Dalgish told a Sunshine Week gathering at North Carolina State University.

One North Carolina legislator, state Sen. Thom Goolsby, attempted to address that with Senate Bill 125. The bill would fine government employees who refuse to release public documents $200, or put them in jail for up to 20 days.

Yesterday, Gov. Gary Herbert signed the bill that forces people who want copies of mugshots to swear that they won’t post it on websites that charge to remove them.

HB408, sponsored by Clearfield Republican Rep. Paul Ray, subjects violators to the same penalties as those who lie to police officers. Ray said he sponsored the bill at the request of Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder, who was concerned about the proliferation of mug shot magazines and websites.

Ray and Winder said the sites were not fair to people who had been arrested, not charged and were trying to get on with their lives...

As of Monday, more Utahns will be able to get a look at what happens in Utah’s trial courts.

That is when new rules went into effect, permitting television cameras to record trials in the state’s courtrooms. Utah is the 20th state to permit television cameras in trial courtrooms.

Previously, only one still camera was allowed in a trial courtroom, while video cameras were permitted at the appellate level.

The rules permit one video camera in a courtroom, with the video to be shared with all other media outlets. The rule also permits people to use tablet c...

Frequently, I get requests from people who want information deleted from the Utah’s Right to Know website.

Sometimes, it’s someone who has had their criminal record formally expunged and wants it taken down before we do our next update. And, once I see proof that the expungement actually took place, I am more than happy to remove the data.

But there are others who want their convictions and divorces removed for no other reason than they don’t want that fact showing up when someone does a Google search on their names.

One gentleman even went as far as cla...

One would expect an agency created to ensure police officers are accountable would be the model of transparency.

But, as The Salt Lake Tribune’s Nate Carlisle and the Tribune’s editorial board reported, West Valley City’s Professional Standards Review Board is a bit more opaque.

The paper noted that West Valley City’s board does not publish meeting notices or its findings, nor are the names readily available.

Contrast that with the Salt Lake City Civilian Review Board, which announces its meetings and publishes a quarterly report showing how many complai...

Gov. Gary Herbert signed two of Sen. Deidre Henderson’s bills that aim to make more public information accessible.

SB77 requires public bodies to post draft meeting minutes on the state’s Public Meeting Notice website within 30 days of a meeting, and an audio recording of a meeting within three days of the meeting. Sen. Kevin Van Tassell, R-Vernal, tried to amend the bill to exempt smaller communities, whom he claimed would view the posting requirement as a hardship, but that change was rejected.

SB283 moves the Utah Transparency Advisory Board from the Department of Finance to the Departm...

Oklahoma State University’s decision to not tell police or students about a serial sex offender on campus earned it the national Society of Professional Journalists’ (SPJ) Black Hole award for 2013.

SPJ, the nation’s largest and broadest-based journalism association, gives out the award to government entities that flagrantly violate the public’s right to know. The award was announced Friday morning.

(Disclosure: As a member of SPJ’s national Freedom of Information Committee, I served as one of the judges for the Black Hole award.)

In the case of Oklahoma...

Know someone who had done exemplary work promoting the cause of open government? Or how about a government agency or official who’s gone well out of their way at keeping the public in the dark?

The Utah Headliners Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists want to know, and give them their just rewards.

The chapter is seeking nominees for its annual Sunshine and Black Hole awards. The Sunshine Award recognizes those who have helped advance government transparency, either through legislation or grassroot efforts, such as fighting a law that would block access to public records, or t...

For Alfonso Moya-Breton, the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) may be his ticket to getting out of prison sooner.

As The Salt Lake Tribune’s Brooke Adams reported, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell was wrong when she refused to consider Moya-Breton’s contention that his attorney didn’t tell him about a plea deal that could have shaved six years off his sentences for drug offenses.

Moya-Breton was able to find the evidence using FOIA as part of his effort to appeal his 30-year prison sentence.

Moya...

Since October 2008, the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing has disciplined 1,976 contractors, pharmacists, nurses, physicians and other licensed professionals.

The number represents an 123-person increase since November. The disciplinary actions are announced monthly by the division.

Contractors, including licensed plumbers and electricians, were largest group receiving sanctions from the state, with 858 — 43.4 percent — receiving some form of discipline from the state. The discipline ranged from losing a license to probation and warnings.

When President Barack Obama took office, open-government advocates were hopeful his administration would be more transparent than his predecessor’s.

While Obama did restore the presumption of openness in public records, reversing former Attorney General John Ashcroft’s directive to deny records requests if there was even the slightest way to legally do so, his administration hasn’t been as forthcoming as some would like.

As The First Amendment Center reports, an Associated Press analysis shows that his administration denied about one-third of the requests it received in 2012, a slight incr...

Rep. Paul Ray doesn’t see HB408 as restricting access to jail booking photos, but how people use the mug shots.

But others see it as a dangerous foray into restricting public records.

Ray, R-Clearfield, is sponsoring legislation that would require people requesting mug shots to sign an affidavit swearing they won’t require people to pay to have a mug shot removed from a website or magazine. Ray claimed some of the sites charge between $500-$1,000 to remove the pictures, a move he labeled a “scam.”

“You have somebody, for instance a husband and wife arrested on a domestic [violence...

Rep. Brian King attempted to address one of the issues that the GRAMA Working Group failed to in the wake of the HB477 debacle of 2011.

The Salt Lake City Democrat’s HB122 would have required a government body or agency to waive fees for records, once it has been proven that releasing the record would benefit the public more than an individual. Currently, the Government Records Access and Management Act states that entities “may” grant fee waivers when requests are made that are deemed to be in the public’s interest.

Instead, the measure has been thrown into interim study, where King and opponents of the bill ...

In Utah, when both the state Republican and Democratic parties line up against a bill, it’s a bad omen.

That’s what happened with Rep. Brian Greene’s attempt to make birth dates private records under the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA). Greene, a Pleasant Grove Republican, claimed the bill was needed to protect Utahns from identity theft and elder abuse.

His bill, HB370, was supposed to make its second appearance before the House Political Subdivisions Committee Wednesday, but the bill has been sent to interim study.

Greene first presented the bill to the commi...

Orem’s decision to pump $24 million into the troubled UTOPIA fiber-optic network is gaining attention, but not because of the amount of money.

Rather, it was the lack of a public hearing — or even formal council vote — to take the action.

The city agreed Tuesday to bond for $24 million, as part of its 2010 commitment to support the network. Orem is one of several Utah cities that are part of the UTOPIA consortium.

But the agreement wasn’t a formal vote of the City Council. The council rather gave its verbal consent to the bond issue, and there was no public hearing to find out if ...

The House Political Subdivisions Committee unanimously approved a watered-down version of Rep. Kraig Powell’s bill requiring meeting agendas be posted 72 hours in advance.

The committee voted Monday to send out HB207 after the Heber Republican altered his original provision that only “unforeseen” items could be added to the posted agenda up to 24 hours before the meeting. Now, any item can be added to the agenda up until the day before the meeting.

Also, the bill states that the state could not take action against a city council, school board or other public entity subject to the Open and Public Meetings Act f...

The Student Press Law Center reported Friday that the University of Wyoming will release the names of the candidates for the University of Wyoming Presidency.

Chad Baldwin, the university’s director of institutional communications, said the university was dropping its challenge to a lawsuit filed by Wyoming media to see the names. The university had sought to conduct a secret search for the new president, but a district judge ruled in January that the finalists’ names were a matter of public record.

That ruling inspired a bill to make the searches private. On Feb. 8, the bill became law without Gov. Matt Mead’...

Unlike their neighbors in Utah, Wyoming residents won’t know if the best man or woman was chosen to head the University of Wyoming.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead chose to let HB223, which made the names of candidates for college and university presidencies secret under the state’s open-records law, become law without his signature on Feb. 8. Wyoming law requires the governor to act on a bill within three days of receiving it.

“By not affixing my signature to this bill I wanted to express my concern about creating another exemption from disclosure under the Public Records Act,” Mead said in a statement issued by his o...

While everyone was heaping praise on Sen. Curt Bramble’s SB94, which would create an online site for the public to see lawmakers’ email, one major change went by virtually unnoticed.

The bill removes the Utah State Auditor’s representative on the State Records Committee, and replaces it a member of the public nominated by the governor and confirmed by the Utah State Senate.

Bramble said the change is being made at the request of the new state auditor, former Rep. John Dougall, R-Highland.

Dougall said he does not want his office to have a conflict of interest should he decide to au...

The State Records Committee ruled Thursday that Cedar Hills officials were justified in holding back some information from legal invoices sought by local gadfly Ken Cromar.

Cromar, a former City Councilman and representative of the group Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government, had filed a request under the state Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) to see the city’s lawyer bills. Cromar made the request in October after city officials, in the city’s newsletter, accused Cromar’s group of costing the city thousands of dollars in legal fees because of the group’s GRAMA requests.

Eric T. J...

The first bill of the 2013 legislative session to earn a “lights out” rating from the Utah Media Coalition is on its way to the governor’s desk.

SB12, sponsored by Sen. Kevin Van Tassell, would make trip data from the Utah Transit Authority private records under the Government Records Access and Management Act, commonly known as GRAMA. It puts the data in the same category as Social Security numbers and certain medical records.

Van Tassell, a Republican from Vernal (which is not served by the UTA), said the legislation was necessary given the UTA’s move to the a “tap-on, tap-off” system for paying fares with c...

Looking for a new plumber, barber or a doctor? You may want to look on Utah’s Right first.

We’ve updated our database to the end of January 2013. The database lists disciplinary actions taken by the state Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing against licensed professionals in the state.

The database, which goes back to October 2008, lists 1,889 professionals who have received some sanction from the state. The sanctions range from public reprimands to revoking licenses. The list includes 786 construction contractors, 272 nurses, 139 pharmacists or pharmacies, 85 physicians, 80 cosmetologists and b...

Just in case you were wondering, Utah’s legislators don’t hold a monopoly on attempts to close off public records.

The Student Press Law Center reports that Wyoming lawmakers are trying to nullify a court ruling that declared documents identifying finalists for the University of Wyoming president should be made public.

The Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Casper Star-Tribune and the Associated Press filed suit seeking to get documents that would reveal who was being seriously considered for the post. A week ago, a state judge ruled that the records were public, and should be released to reporters.

Utah State Senators on both sides of the aisle are trying to make it easier for the public to see what is in legislators’ email inboxes.

Sens. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, and Curt Bramble, R-Provo, have both submitted requests for bills that would deal with legislator’s emails. The efforts were inspired by the fight for documents related to the Legislature’s 2011 redistricting plan, which were being held back until the Utah Democratic Party paid almost $10,000 to cover the cost of putting the records together.

Lawmakers eventually released the documents after news outlets, including The Salt Lake Tribune, r...

There are now 1,500 additional names in Southern Utah University’s salary database for 2012, thanks to GRAMA.

The database we obtained from the state’s transparency website did not list the names of student employees or even the Cedar City campus’ police force. Because of the anonymity and technical difficulties with the database, we had to list the students in the aggregate.

As a group, these students were paid $4.7 million in salaries and benefits, putting them well above President Michael Benson and other SUU officials.

When I asked why the names were kept under wraps, the unive...

Thanks to Utah’s open-records law, we now know how much a Hurricane police officer’s decision to use a Taser on a mentally ill man cost taxpayers.

As Brooke Adams reported, the southern Utah city paid the family of Brian Cardall $2 million to settle the family’s wrongful-death lawsuit against the city. The settlement states that the city does not admit to any liability by making the payment.

In return, the Cardalls drop their suit against the city, Police Chief Lynn Excell and Officer Kenneth Thompson, who is accused of firing two 50,000-volt charges from his Taser pistol into Cardall, who was unarmed, naked a...

Another Utah lawmaker wants to make the Legislature’s bill-drafting process more transparent.

Rep. Kraig Powell, R-Heber, is working on a bill that would, if passed, make bills in the drafting process public documents. Currently, legislators can ask that their bill files, as the nascent bills are called on Capitol Hill, be designated as protected documents under the Utah Government Records Access and Management Act. That section also covers trade secrets, security arrangements at the Utah State Prison and documents in pending real-estate negotiations.

Powell said his goal is to encourage more public comment du...

Sandra Senn will have to wait a month to find out how much of a Utah Highway Patrol trooper’s record she can look at.

The State Records Committee unanimously agreed to continue Senn’s appeal of an open-records request denial by the Utah Department of Public Safety, as the committee reviews the files to see how much can be released.

Senn is seeking information such as disciplinary records, employment records, training records and other personnel data on Trooper David Wurtz, who pulled over one of Senn’s friends in Park City in 2012. The friend, Rande A. Lee, is charged with driving under the influence, going 30...

The State Records Committee will decide tomorrow whether a defense attorney can see a Utah Highway Patrol trooper’s personnel records.

The committee will hear an appeal from Sandra Senn, an attorney representing Rande A. Lee, who was charged with driving under the influence, failing to operate a car in a single lane and driving 30 mph in a 25-mph zone in early 2012. Senn sought personnel records on Trooper David Wurtz, including disciplinary and training records, which she said could help her client.

The Department of Public Safety released a 2009 disciplinary report on Wurtz, showing he received a three-day ...

Gunnison Valley Hospital will comply with the state’s open-records law — to a point.

Hospital representatives told the state Transparency Advisory Board Thursday that the hospital has determined it is subject to the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA), and will release financial information, including salaries for most employees. The hospital, founded in the 1940s, was sold to the cities in Sanpete County’s Gunnison Valley.

But Mark Dalley, the hospital’s chief executive, said the hospital’s lawyers advised them that they could withhold the data on the hospital’s doctors. Doing so, Dalley said...

As my colleague Robert Gehrke reported, Sen. Aaron Osmond wants lawmakers to put their bills out in the open.

Osmond is introducing a resolution to amend the Legislature’s rules to ban the so-called “boxcar” bills — a blank bill with a vague title — lawmakers use for last-minute lawmaking.

“My goal is to create an environment where the public and those affected by legislation would have plenty of time to read and respond to legislation before it hits the floor,” Osmond told Gehrke.

Osmond’s bill, SJR3, would require lawmakers to file bills with a title and “reasonably specific” des...

In the wake of the school shootings in Newtown, Conn., two New York legislators are proposing a bill to control information about gun owners.

New York State Sen. Greg Ball, R-Patterson, and Assemblyman Steve Katz, R-Yorktown, want to amend the state’s Freedom of Information Law after the Journal News published a story on pistol permits issued in Rockland and Westchester counties. The report also included an interactive map showing the names and addresses of permit holders, although the map could not be searched by name.

The permit data is a public record in New York, and the paper obtained the data by filing ...

Attorney Peter Stirba said the wrongful death lawsuit filed against Hurricane in the death of Brian Cardall has been settled in the best interest of all parties.

The problem is, the public is forced to take Stirba’s word for it. Stirba, who represented the city, Police Chief Lynn Excell and Officer Kenneth Thompson, said the details of the settlement were confidential.

Cardall’s family sued the city, Excell and Thompson, who delivered two shocks from a Taser pistol to Cardall when he was having a bipolar episode on the side of a southern Utah highway in 2009. Cardall died shortly after the second shock was del...

Looking for a new doctor, barber or contractor? You might want to check here first.

With help from Tony Semerad, the Tribune’s computer-assisted reporting editor, we’ve updated the professional licensing disciplinary database on UtahsRight.com. The database shows actions the state Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing has taken against doctors, nurses, contractors, cosmetologists and other licensed professionals who have violated the law or professional codes. This latest update covers the period between December 2011 and November 2012.

The current update includes data on 656 companies and indiv...

For now, people who are not satisfied with their records requests can choose whether to seek mediation with the state ombudsman.

During a recent meeting, the State Records Committee agreed to keep meetings with the state Records Ombudsman voluntary and see how that works.

Outgoing Committee Chairwoman Betsy Ross discussed the possibility of requiring mediation before a records committee hearing.

“As a lawyer, I believe it is better for the parties to come to a solution than to have a solution forced upon them by a judge,” Ross said before the meeting. “They’re going to be happier a...

How much information do you want about your investment broker’s background?

If Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, gets his way, there won’t be much at all — at least as far as cases brought against brokers by the state.

As Robert Gehrke reported, Stephenson wants the state Division of Finance to remove cases brought against investment brokers removed from the Internet. Stephenson claims that some of the advisers charged admitted to “minor infractions”, and that some of those admissions were the result of alleged abuses within the department that were highlighted in a 2008 legislative audit.