This national group gave the Utah Legislature its ‘Black Hole' award

Yahoo

21-03-2025

Recent laws making it more difficult and expensive to obtain government records earned the Utah Legislature a 'dishonor' from one of the nation's oldest and largest journalism organizations.
The Society of Professional Journalists gave Utah lawmakers its 2025 Black Hole Award on Friday.
The Legislature received the award for repeatedly undermining transparency by amending Utah's longstanding Government Records Access and Management Act, or GRAMA, to block the release of public records — even after court orders mandated their disclosure, according to SPJ.
The yearslong trend culminated in March, when legislators voted to abolish the State Records Committee, an independent board that serves as an intermediary between people who request access to government records and various government agencies. The volunteer seven-member panel resolves disputes over whether documents are private or public under GRAMA.
Earlier this month, state lawmakers passed SB277, which replaces the records committee with an administrative law judge appointed by the governor.
Howard Goldberg, retired Associated Press bureau chief and member of the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee, said in a statement that the records committee with its diverse perspectives was ideally suited to look out for the public interest in free information.
'Replacing that committee with a governor's appointee can only reduce accountability and undermine public confidence in government,' he said.
There have been several recent cases where the panel ruled in favor of releasing records that government agencies and elected officials sought to withhold, only to have the Legislature change the law to keep them secret.
In 2022, lawmakers exempted Garrity statements — statements made by public employees during internal investigations — from public disclosure following a request by The Salt Lake Tribune for documents related to officer-involved shootings. The committee had ordered the release of the documents and subsequent court rulings upheld the order.
In 2023, the Legislature passed a law making college athletes' name, image and likeness, or NIL, contracts submitted to their schools for review private records. The Deseret News sought the records under GRAMA. The records committee deemed them public documents and ordered their release. State lawmakers changed the law while the Deseret News and the universities were in litigation.
In 2024, lawmakers passed a law shielding public officials' digital work calendars from public view after KSL-TV sought access to then-Attorney General Sean Reyes' calendar. The records committee ordered the release of the calendar and a court had upheld the decision. Lawmakers passed a bill exempting digital calendars from public inspection within hours of the court ruling.
In addition to SB277, the Legislature this year also passed HB69, which makes the process for appealing the denial of a government records more costly. It prevents someone who successfully gets access to records on appeal from recovering court costs, unless the government showed bad faith. That means they could incur an expense opposing the government even if it's decided they should have been given the records in the first place.
'The possibility that government would have to pay attorney fees for wrongfully denying a citizen access to public records was a powerful incentive for agencies to comply with the law. HB69 took that away. Now government can deny requests and citizens will have no recourse because going to court is too expensive,' said Jeff Hunt, an attorney who represents the media coalition.
Gov. Spencer Cox said Thursday he plans to sign the bills.
'I think it's best for for the state. I think it's best for state government. I think it's best for the people,' he said Thursday at his monthly PBS Utah news conference. 'We're always trying to make sure we have the right balance in government, and I think these bills do.'
Emma Penrod, president of the SPJ Utah Headliners Chapter, said public records law isn't supposed to 'devolve into a game of cat-and-mouse played by the press and government officials.
'The actions taken by the Utah Legislature in recent years will prevent Utahns from all walks of life — but especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds and vulnerable populations — from accessing information about how their local government operates, impairing their ability to participate in the democratic process."
This is not Utah's first time receiving national scrutiny for its lack of transparency. In 2011, the Legislature received SPJ's inaugural Black Hole Award after passing a bill that gutted the GRAMA. Public backlash prompted lawmakers to repeal the law.