In the 2024 session, the Utah Legislature made several updates to the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA). Here are the highlights. Representative Loubet sponsored HB 266 which updates the Government Records Ombudsman statute and the GRAMA appeals process to include the Ombudsman. This bill also removed the State Records Committee from being a necessary party to a petitioner …
2023 Year in Review
Here at Utah State Archives, our goal is to ensure the ongoing care and management of the public records that we hold in trust for the citizens of Utah. As we end another year, we take a moment to reflect and share our wins over the past twelve months. In 2023 our staff… This year we also said goodbye to …
ARO Spotlight: Emily Bejarano from Academica West
Emily Bejarano has worked with Utah charter schools for the past twenty years through her job at Academica West. Her role is to train new school secretaries on records management, student data privacy laws, and best practices. In other words, she’s the one who answers the question “What do I do with all these old boxes of records?” Thanks for …
ARO Spotlight: Department of Environmental Quality Records Team
Over the several years that I’ve been a RIM specialist at the State Archives, I’ve had the pleasure of working with many different State departments. The Department of Environmental Quality has consistently reached out to State Archives over the years, and is always just delightful to work with, so I wanted to recognize them for that. Instead of highlighting a …
Mastering Accessioning: Unveiling the Art of Organizing Records at the Archives
The Archives receives records all the time, but what do we do with them after we get them? The first step in receiving records is to document the transfer of legal custody to the State Archives. We do this either by utilizing a transfer form, by which a government entity signs the records over to us, or by a deed …
Untangling Audio: Navigating Reformatting Challenges
As a Reformatting Specialist, Leif Johnson has come across his fair share of challenging projects. Recently, he was presented with a seriously tricky audio reformatting issue that required his expertise and problem-solving abilities. Below, Leif explains how his technical skills saved the day! “We had court audio records that were recorded at a slower speed to capture more data. This …
2023 Legislative Updates
Another legislative session has come to a close. As we all catch our breath, here are a few updates that impact GRAMA, Archives, and Records Management, that you may find interesting. The last day for the Governor to sign or veto bills is the 23rd of March. Any bill that does not have a specified effective date will go into …
State Records Committee Year in Review
Last year was an exceptionally busy year for the State Records Committee! In 2022, the committee received approximately 260 appeals and issued 61 Decisions and Orders. 68 appeals were withdrawn before the hearing because they were resolved in mediation, thanks to the hard work by our State Ombudsman Rosemary Cundiff! 2022 Charts Most of the requesters who appeal to the …
2022 Year in Review
Here at Utah State Archives, our goal is to ensure the ongoing care and management of the public records that we hold in trust for the citizens of Utah. As we end another year, we take a moment to reflect and share our wins over the past twelve months. In 2022 our staff… It was a time of transition for …
Utah’s Emerging Record-keepers: Sydney Dahle, Cache County Deputy Clerk
Sydney Dahle started as a deputy clerk in the Cache County Clerk’s office in 2021, and is assigned to work as the county’s official record-keeper. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri Sydney moved to Utah to attend Utah State University. Sydney has an interest in preserving history and helping people access government records, and recently graduated with degrees in history and …