On Tuesday, some legislators on a task force assigned to refine the state's public records law suggested blocking public access to all e-mails between lawmakers and to and from constituents.

"You ought to be able to speak your mind and not worry about being on the front page of the Washington Post the next day," Lehi Republican Sen. Mark Madsen said.

Changes in technology - voicemail, instant messaging and e-mails - have forced Utah lawmakers to reconsider the definition of a public "record" in the state's Government Records Access and Management Act.

At the task force meeting, lawmakers debated whether the content of an e-mail was more important than the informal approach of such electronic letters. They considered defining e-mails as "transitory" material not subject to GRAMA. And they reviewed laws from other states such as Colorado and New Jersey, which classify all e-mail as confidential based on the sender's expectation of privacy.

Letters to and from state lawmakers are considered official government documents. But based on the advice of legislative attorneys, lawmakers do not treat their e-mails like public records unless they print them out. Changing that practice by turning e-mails into official government documents makes state representatives and senators uncomfortable. They worry about stifling candor between colleagues, violating their constituents' expectations of privacy and the headache of sorting through their hundreds of e-mails.

"When you make something available to the public, if you go too far, you may forestall people from being candid because they don't want to read themselves in the paper," said Sen. Dave Thomas, R-South Weber.

Bountiful Republican Rep. Ann Hardy worried about sorting and saving the scores of constituent e-mails she receives each year. "We are talking about storing huge amounts of information," Hardy said. "I can't imagine anyone wanting to read all my e-mails. I don't even like to do it."

And Madsen worries about exposing his thoughts, or those of his constituents. "Anybody who communicates with me runs the risk of having that communication subject to GRAMA," Madsen said. "It almost seems like all your com- munication is compromised."

Salt Lake County Recorder Gary Ott told lawmakers his office distinguishes between e-mails that are "documents" and e-mails that are "conversations" - saving those that they consider documents.

But Society of Professional Journalists lobbyist Joel Campbell urged lawmakers to proceed cautiously before trying to separate the two. "When does a conversation turn into a discussion of an important public policy?" he asked.

The committee will propose changes to the state statute - which governs records policies for elected leaders from the governor to city council members - at the end of the year.