Records Officer/GRAMA
What does the Records Officer do?
The Records Officer is the individual appointed to work with the Utah
State Archives in the care, maintenance, scheduling, designations,
classifications, disposal, and preservation of Davis County records.
The Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) establishes the
classification of records, and who has access to those records. If
a records request has been denied, the request can be appealed through
the Records Officer.
If requesting a record, the appropriate department which maintains that
record should first be contacted.
A general list of Davis County records and the appropriate departments follows:
- Birth and Death Certificates - Health Department - (801) 451- 3340
- Marriage Licenses - Clerk/Auditor Department - (801) 451-3218
- Land/Property Inquiries - Recorder's Office - (801) 451-3225
- Business Licenses - Planning and Zoning - (801) 451-3278
*Records not maintained by Davis County Government:
- Divorce Records - District Court - (801) 447-3800
- Criminal Records - Bureau of Criminal Investiagations (BCI) - (801) 965-4570
What is GRAMA?
The Records officer is the individual appointed to work with the State
archives in the care, maintenance, scheduling, designations, classification,
disposal, and preservation of records. Numerous records are constantly
being created within Davis County, and the County becomes the caretaker of
those records. Utah is an "Open Record State", meaning that records are
considered public unless otherwise specified. The information contained in
these records can be of great benefit to the public and to individuals.
However, disclosure of public records has the potential to impact individual
privacy. In an effort to balance the public's right to know and an
individual's privacy, the State has enacted GRAMA.
The Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) was established
by the State to set statutory standards in maintenance and handling of governmental
records. "GRAMA is an attempt to balance the public's constitutional right
of access to information concerning the conduct or the public's business, the
individual's constitutional right of privacy in relation to personal data
gathered by government entities, and the public policy interest in allowing a
government to restrict access to certain records for the public good."
The following are some definitions to help understand GRAMA:
-
Classify - means determining whether a record series, record, or information
within a record is public, private, controlled, protected, or exempt
from disclosure.
-
Record - means all books, letters, documents, papers, maps, plans, photographs,
films, cards, tapes, recordings, electronic data, or other documentary
materials regardless of physical form or characteristics.
-
Schedule - means the process of specifying the length of time each record series
should be retained by a governmental entity for administrative, legal,
fiscal, or historical purposes and when each record series should be
transferred to the state archives or destroyed.
GRAMA Ordinance
Davis County enacted a GRAMA Ordinance in 1996. According to this ordinance
records are classified and assigned a retention period. Public records are open
to the public and the County can charge reasonable fees for copies or compilation time.
The County is not required to compile records in a specified form if they have
not already been created. Other records (such as private, controlled, protected,
or exempt) follow strict statutes concerning who has access, and often require written
requests or authorizations.
Forms Available from the County
- REQUEST FOR RECORD FORM
- REQUEST FOR CONTROLLED RECORD FORM
- CONSENT FOR RELEASE OF RECORD FORM
The Records Officer for Davis County is Yvonne Christensen, and can be reached at
451-3277 or fellows@co.davis.ut.us.
To receive more information on GRAMA visit the web site of the Utah State Archives at
www.archives.state.ut.us.
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