"The concern is that, in a state where one party has the votes to determine the outcome . . . those decisions are made behind closed doors," Shurtleff said Wednesday. "I'll just go out on a limb here . . . the people's business is being done, decisions are being made on laws that will impact us, everything ought to be done to make that open."

Utah legislators have specifically exempted party caucuses from the state's open meetings requirement. However, in the just-completed 2008 Legislative session, House Republicans and Democrats in both chambers held open caucuses, meaning only Senate Republicans closed their meetings.

Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, said the closed caucus is a long-standing tradition, going back to Utah's territorial government, where members can engage in political discussions.

"Our members really want to have a place where they can have that kind of exchange to see if they have the unanimous support of the caucus or if they have problems where they have to then go work one-on-one with the individual members," said Valentine.

The 21 Republicans - out of 29 senators - routinely take "caucus positions" on measures, talking through issues and emerging with a consensus. Valentine said the members reach those positions when it is clear they unanimously agree on an issue.

"We are very conscientious to not take votes in the caucus," he said. "Where we disagreed, we went out on the floor and let the votes lie where we lie."

Valentine was the recipient Wednesday evening of the Utah Society of Professional Journalists Sunshine Award, for opening up government.

Under his tenure, the Senate Republicans' Web site has begun providing live broadcasts of daily media briefings, podcasts and blog posts from senators. He also resisted a proposal that would have no longer required public legal notices to be published in newspapers.

Shurtleff's comments came at a news conference to release The Open Book, a 27-page guide to Utah's open records and meetings laws put together by the attorney general's office.

His office printed 2,500 copies of the booklet for distribution. It also is available online with additional open records information, at www.

attorneygeneral.utah.gov/

GRAMA.html.

"I have always been a strong proponent of open government," Shurtleff said. "Open government is better government. In fact, closed government is a threat to our democracy."

gehrke@sltrib.com

* A public meeting can only be closed for specific reasons outlined in the law, such as discussion of personnel issues, litigation, security, or purchase or sale of real estate.

* Closing a meeting for one of the specified exemptions requires a vote in a public meeting of two-thirds of the public body's members. The votes and the reason for closure must be recorded.