Records Access and Management
Statement of ............. Effective Date 12/12/95
Board Policy with Guidelines Revised Date
Subject: Records Access and Management Policy
I. Board Policy
A POLICY ESTABLISHING A RECORDS ACCESS AND MANAGEMENT POLICY FOR THE NORTH
SANPETE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Education of the North Sanpete School Districts as follows:
II. Guidelines
The North Sanpete School District adopts this Policy to establish guidelines for open government
information, recognizing the need to maintain and preserve accurate records, provide public
access to public records and preserve the right of privacy of personal data collected or received
by the District.
III. District Policy
In adopting this Policy, the District recognizes the enactment of Government Records Access and
Management Act (Sections 63-2-101 et seq., Utah Code Annotated 1953) and the application of
that act to the District records (See Appendix I.) The purpose of these policies is to subdivision
may adopt a Policy relating to information practices including classification, designation, access
denials, segregation, appeals, management, retention and amendment of records. The intent of
this Policy is to provide modifications to the general provisions of State Law, where allowed, to
best meet the public needs, operation, management capabilities and resources of the district.
IV. Compliance with State Law
In adopting this policy, the District recognizes that the following sections of the Government
Records Access Management Act apply to the District and adopts by reference these provisions as
part of this policy. Any inconsistency or conflict between this Policy and the following
reference statues shall be governed by the
statute. (See full text of referenced statues in Appendix I of the Policy).
Part 1 General Provisions
63-2-101 Short Title
63-2-102 Legislative Intent
63-2-103 Definitions
63-2-104 Administrative procedures Act not applicable
63-2-105 Confidentiality agreements
Part 2 Access to Records
63-2-201 Right to inspect records and receive copies of records
63-2-206 Access to private, controlled and protected documents
63-2-205 Denials
63-2-206 Sharing records
Part 3 Classification
63-2-301 Records that must be disclosed
63-2-302 Private records
63-2-303 Controlled Records
63-2-304 Protected records
63-2-305 Procedure to determine classification
63-2-306 Segregation of records 63-2-308 Business confidentiality claims
Part 4 Claims
Part 5 State Records Committee
Part 6 Accuracy of Records -
63-2-601 Rights of individuals on whom data is maintained
63-2-602 Disclosure to subject
of records Contest of use
63-2-602 Request to amend
Part 7 Applicability to Political Subdivisions The Judiciary and the Legislature
63-2-701 Political subdivisions to enact ordinances in compliance with chapter
Part 8 Remedies
63-2-801 Criminal penalties
63-2-802 Injunction - Attorney's Fees
63-2-803 No Liability for certain decisions of a governmental entity
63-2-804 Disciplinary action
Part 9 Archives and Records Service
63-2-905 Records declared property of the State-Disposition
63-2-907 Right to replevin
Part 10 Other
63-30-10.6 Attorneys' fees for records request
63-2-306 Segregation of records
63-2-308 Business confidentiality claims
V. Definitions
As used in this Resolution, the following definitions shall be applicable:
a. "Act" shall refer to the Government Records Access and Management Act, 63-2-1, et seq.,
Utah Code Annotated 1953, as amended.
b. "Superintendent" means the Superintendent of the North Sanpete School District as defined in
the District Bylaws.
c. "District" shall refer to the North Sanpete School District or any public or private entity
which pursuant to contract with the District has agreed to produce and maintain public District
records.
d. "Computer software program" means the series of instructions or statements that permit the
functioning of a computer system in a manner designed to provide storage, retrieval, and
manipulation of data from the computer system, and may associated documentation, manuals, or
other source materials explaining how to operate the software program. "Software" does not
include the original data or record which in manipulated by the software.
e. "Controlled" records shall be those defined as controlled under the provisions of the Act.
f. "Data" shall refer to individual entries (for example, birth date, address, etc.) in records.
g. "Dispose" Means to destroy, or render irretrievable or illegible, a record or the information
contained in it by any physical, electronic, or other means, including unauthorized deletion or
erasure of electronically recorded audio, visual, non-written formats, data processing, or
other records.
h. "Non-public" records shall refer to those records defined as private, controlled, or protected
under the provisions of the Act.
i, "Private" records shall refer to those records classified as private under the provisions of
the Act.
j. "Protected" records shall refer to those records classified as private under the provisions of
the Act.
k. "Public" records shall refer to those records which have not been classified as non-public in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
(1) "Record" means all books, letters, documents, papers, maps, plans, photographs, films,
cards, tapes, recordings, or other documentary materials, and electronic data regardless of
physical form or characteristics, prepared, owned, used, received, or retained by the District
where all the information in the original is reproducible by some mechanical, electronic,
photographic or other means.
(2) "Record does not mean:
a. Temporary drafts or similar materials prepared for the originator's personal use or
prepared by the originator for the personal use of a person for whom he is working;
b. Materials that are legally owned by an individual in his private capacity;
c. Materials to which access is limited by the laws of copyright or patent;
d. Junk mail or commercial publications received by the District or by an officer or employee
of the District;
e. Personal notes or daily calendars prepared by any District employee for personal use or the
personal use of a supervisor or such notes, calendars, or internal memoranda prepared for the
use of an officer or agency acting in a quasi-judicial or deliberative process or pursuant to
matters discussed in a meeting closed pursuant to Utah Open Meeting Act; or
f. Proprietary computer software programs as defined in subsection C. above that are developed
or purchased by or for the District for its own use.
VI. Public Right to Records
a. The Board hereby designates as "DRAFTS" and all minutes of Board meetings which have not
been finally approved which constitute protected records under the Government Records Access
Management Act. At the time that such records are finally adopted by the Board then they shall become public record available to the public.
b. Members of the public shall have the right to see, review, examine and take copies, in any
format maintained by the District, of all District governmental records defined as "public"
under the provisions of this Policy, upon the payment of the lawful fee and pursuant to the
provisions of this Policy and the Act.
c. The District has no obligation to create a record or record series in response to a request from a member of the public, if the record requested is not otherwise regularly maintained or kept.
d. When a record is temporarily held by a custodial District agency, pursuant to that custodial
agency's statutory functions, such as records storage, investigation, litigation or audit, the
record shall not be considered a record of the District and any requests for access to such
records shall be directed to the District, rather than the custodial agency, pursuant to these
procedures.
VII. Public, Private, Controlled, Protected Records and Protected Records
`a. Public records shall be those District records as defined in the Act, 63-2201(UCA 1953, as
amended). Public records shall be made available to any person. All District records are
considered public unless they are (1) expressly designated, classified, or defined otherwise by
the District in accordance with policies and procedures established by this Policy, (2) are so
designated, classified or defined by the Act, or (3) are made non-public by other applicable
law.
b. Private records shall be those District records classified as "private", as defined in the Act
63-2-302 (UCA 1953, as amended) and as designated, classified or defined in procedures
established pursuant to this Policy. Private records shall be made available to the following
persons; The subject of the record, the parent or legal guardian of a minor who is the subject of
the record, the legal guardian of an incapacitated individual who is the subject of the record, any
person who has a power of attorney or a notarized release from the subject of the record or his
legal representative, or any person possessed of and serving a legislative subpoena or a court order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction.
c. Controlled records shall be those District records classified as "controlled", as defined in the
Act, 63-2-303 (UCA 1953, as amended) and as designated, classified, or defined in procedures
established in this Policy, controlled records shall be made available to a physician,
psychologist, or licensed social worker who submits a notarized release from the subject of the
record or any person presenting a legislative subpoena or a court order signed by a judge of
competent jurisdiction.
d. Protected records shall be those District records classified as "protected", as defined in the
Act, 63-2-304 (UCA 1953, as amended) and as designated, classified or defined in procedures
established in this Policy. Protected records shall be made available to the person who
submitted the information in the record, to a person who has power of attorney or notarized
release from any persons or governmental entities who interests are protected by the
classification of the record, or to any person presenting a legislative subpoena or a court order
regarding the release of the information and signed by a judge of competent jurisdiction.
e. Under circumstances set out by the Act, it may be appropriate to disclose non-public records
to persons other than those set out in this section. The determination to so release records shall
be at the discretion of the Superintendent, consistent with the Act, and upon the advice of the
District's Attorney.
VIII. Privacy Rights
a. The District recognizes and upholds the personal right of privacy retained by persons who
may be the subject of governmental records. The District also recognizes that the Act and the
Utah case law establish a presumption that governmental records will generally be considered
open and public, with certain specific exceptions. In circumstances where a record's public or
non-public status is not specifically established by the Act or another statute, by this Policy,
or by policies established or designations made under this Policy, the public's right to access
and the record subject's right of privacy must be compared. In accordance with decisions of the
Utah Supreme Court, District records which have not been specifically made public by statute and
which refer to named or readily identifiable individuals which deal with matters of a delicate
nature which could engender shame or humiliation in the subject of that record, in accordance
with accepted standards of social propriety, shall generally not be classified as public records
and release thereof may constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy, in accordance
with the Act and procedures established in this Policy. Under circumstances and procedures
established by this Policy, certain items of data may be rendered non-public, although other
items of data in the record, or the record itself, may be classified public.
b. The District may as determined appropriate by the Superintendent, notify the subject of a
record that a request for access to the subjects record has been made.
c. The District may require that the requester of records provide a written release, notarized
within thirty (30) days before the request, from the subject of the records in question before
access to such records is provided.
IX. DESIGNATION, CLASSIFICATION AND RETENTION
a. All District records and records series, of any format, shall be designated, classified and
scheduled for retention according to the provisions of the Act and this policy. Any records or
record series generated mt he future shall also be so designated, classified and scheduled for
retention. Records designation classification and scheduling for retention shall be conducted
under the supervision of the District Records Officer.
X. PROCEDURES FOR RECORDS REQUEST
a. Under circumstances in which a District is not able to immediately respond to a records request the requester shall fill out and present to the
District a written request on forms provided by the District. The date and time of the request shall be noted on the written request form and all time frames provided under this Policy shall commence from that time and date. Requesters of non-public information shall adequately identify themselves and their status prior to receiving access to non-public records.
b. The District may respond to a request for a record by approving the request for a record by approving the request and providing the records, denying the request, or such other appropriate response as may be established by policies and procedures. If a request is denied in whole or in part, the agency shall provide a notice of denial to the requester. The denial notice shall include information regarding the appeals process and such other information as may be required by this Section and the Act.
c. (1) In most circumstances and excepting those eventualities set out below, the District shall respond to a written request for a public record within ten business days after that request.
(2) Extraordinary circumstances shall justify the District's failure to respond to a written request for a public record within ten business days and shall extend the time for response thereto to that time reasonably necessary to respond to the request, as determined by the Records Officer. Extraordinary circumstances shall include but not be limited to the following;
a. Some other governmental entity is currently and actively using the record requested;
b. The record requested is for either a voluminous quantity of records or requires the District to review a large number of records or perform extensive research to locate the materials requested;
c. The District is currently processing either a large number of records requests or is subject to extraordinary seasonal work loads in the processing of other work:
d. The request involves an analysis of legal issues to determine the proper response to the request;
e. The request involves extensive editing to separate public data in a record from that which is not public; or
f. Providing the information request requires computer programming or other format manipulation.
(3) When a record request cannot be responded to within ten (10) days, the Records Officer shall give the requester an estimate of the time required to respond to the request.
d. The failure or inability of a District to respond to a request for a record within the time frames set out herein, or the District's denial of such a request, shall give the requester the right to appeal as provided in Section II.
e. Any District record which is subject to pending litigation or audit or has been requested in accordance with this Policy and the Act, that is disposable by approved retention schedules, may not be disposed of until the litigation or audit has been resolved or the request is granted and fulfilled, or sixty days after the request is denied if no appeals are filed, or sixty days after all appeals are completed, pursuant to Section II.
f. In response to a request for access, the District may redesignate or reclassify the record or segregate data in the requested record in accordance with this Section and the Act.
XI. FEES
a. Applicable fees for the processing of information requests under this Policy shall generally be set at actual cost or as otherwise established by policies adopted under this Policy. The District will charge the following fees for requests relating to government Records Access and Management
1. Reviewing a record to determine No Charge whether it is subject to disclosure
2. Inspection of records by requesting No Charge person
3. Copy Fees $1 for the first page and $.25 per page there- after (District prepared copies)
4. Computer Disk Actual Cost (including overhead and time of District Staff in preparation of information request)
5. Other Forms Actual Cost (including overhead and time of District Staff in preparation of information request)
6. Miscellaneous Fees Actual Cost (including overhead and time of District Staff in preparation of information request)
XII.APPEAL PROCESS
a. Any person aggrieved by the District's denial or claim of extraordinary circumstances may
appeal the determination within 30 days after notice of the District's action to the District
Superintendent by filing a written notice of appeal. The notice of appeal shall contain the
petitioners name, address, phone number, relief sought arid if petitioner desires, a short acts, reasons and legal authority for the appeal.
b. If the appeal involves a record that is subject to business confidentiality or affects the
privacy rights of an individual, the District Superintendent shall send a notice of the requester's appeal to the affected person.
c. The District Superintendent shall make a determination on the appeal within 30 days after
receipt of the appeal. During this 30 day period the District Superintendent may schedule an
informal hearing or request any additional information deemed necessary to make a
determination. The District Superintendent shall send written notice to all participants
providing the reasons for the District Superintendent's determination.
d. In addition, if the District Superintendent affirms the denial in whole or in part, the denial
shall include a statement that the requester has a right to appeal the denial to the District's
Board of Education within (30) days at the next scheduled meeting.
e. The person may file a written notice of appeal to the Board of Education to be heard at the next
scheduled meeting of the Board. If there is no meeting scheduled in the next thirty days, the
Board of Education shall schedule a meeting for the purpose of hearing the appeal. The final
decision of the Board of Education shall be by majority vote of a quorum of the Board. The Board
shall prepare a written decision outlining their final determination and reasons for the final
determination.
f. If the board of Education affirms the denial, in whole or in part, the person may petition for judicial review in district court as provided in Section 63-2-404 UCA.
XIII. REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION
a. Reasonable accommodations regarding access to governmental records shall be provided to
persons with disabilities in accordance with the Americans Disabilities Act upon request of the
applicant.
XIV. RECORDS AMENDMENTS
a. Governments records held by the District may be amended or- corrected as needed Requests for amendments corrections or other changes and shall be made in writing to the District having custody of the records and setting
forth, with specificity, the amendment or correction requested. When an amendment or
correction of a government record is made, both the original record and the amended or
corrected record shall be retained, unless provided otherwise by the Act or other State or
Federal law.
XV. PENALTIES
a. District employees who knowingly refuse to permit access to records in accordance with the
Act and this Policy, who knowingly permit access to non-public records, or who knowingly,
without authorization or legal authority, dispose of, alter, or remove records or allow other
persons to do so in violation of the provisions of the Act, this Policy or other law or regulation
may be subject to criminal prosecution arid disciplinary action, including termination.
b. In accordance with the Act, neither the District nor any of its officers or employees shall be
liable for damages resulting from the release of a record where the requester presented
evidence of authority to obtain the record, even if it may be subsequently determined that the
requester had no such authority.
XIV. RECORDS OFFICER
a. There shall be appointed a District Records Officer to oversee and coordinate records access,
management and archives activities. The Records Officer shall make annual reports of records
services activities to the Board of Education. The Business Administrator of the North Sanpete
School District is hereby designated as the District's Records Officer.
XVII. RECORDS MAINTENANCE
a. Records maintenance procedures shall be developed to ensure that due care is taken to
maintain and preserve District records safely and accurately over the long term. The Records
Officer shall be responsible for monitoring the application and use of technical processes in the
creation, duplication, and disposal of district records. The records Officer shall monitor
compliance with required standards of quality, permanence, and admissibility pertaining to the
creation, use, and maintenance of records.
b. All District records shall remain the property of the District unless federal or state legal
authority provides otherwise. Property rights to District records may not be permanently
transferred from the District to any private individual or entity, including those legally
disposable obsolete, District records. This prohibition does not include the providing of copies
of District records otherwise produced for release or distribution under this Section.
c. Custodians of any District records shall, at the expiration of their terms of office,
appointment or employment, deliver custody and control of all records kept or received by them
to their successors, supervisors, or to the District Records Officer.
ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE NORTH SANPETE SCHOOL DISTRICT THIS 8th
DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1992.
North Sanpete School District
By Board President Ann Deuel
ATTEST
Darin Johansen, Business Administrator