63G-2-401 - Appeal to head of governmental entity.
63G-2-401. Appeal to head of governmental entity.
(1) (a) Any person aggrieved by a governmental entity's access determination under thischapter, including a person not a party to the governmental entity's proceeding, may appeal thedetermination within 30 days to the chief administrative officer of the governmental entity byfiling a notice of appeal.
(b) If a governmental entity claims extraordinary circumstances and specifies the datewhen the records will be available under Subsection 63G-2-204(3), and, if the requester believesthe extraordinary circumstances do not exist or that the time specified is unreasonable, therequester may appeal the governmental entity's claim of extraordinary circumstances or date forcompliance within 30 days after notification of a claim of extraordinary circumstances by thegovernmental entity, despite the lack of a "determination" or its equivalent under Subsection63G-2-204(7).
(2) The notice of appeal shall contain the following information:
(a) the petitioner's name, mailing address, and daytime telephone number; and
(b) the relief sought.
(3) The petitioner may file a short statement of facts, reasons, and legal authority insupport of the appeal.
(4) (a) If the appeal involves a record that is the subject of a business confidentialityclaim under Section 63G-2-309, the chief administrative officer shall:
(i) send notice of the requester's appeal to the business confidentiality claimant withinthree business days after receiving notice, except that if notice under this section must be given tomore than 35 persons, it shall be given as soon as reasonably possible; and
(ii) send notice of the business confidentiality claim and the schedule for the chiefadministrative officer's determination to the requester within three business days after receivingnotice of the requester's appeal.
(b) The claimant shall have seven business days after notice is sent by the administrativeofficer to submit further support for the claim of business confidentiality.
(5) (a) The chief administrative officer shall make a determination on the appeal withinthe following period of time:
(i) within five business days after the chief administrative officer's receipt of the notice ofappeal; or
(ii) within 12 business days after the governmental entity sends the requester's notice ofappeal to a person who submitted a claim of business confidentiality.
(b) If the chief administrative officer fails to make a determination within the timespecified in Subsection (5)(a), the failure shall be considered the equivalent of an order denyingthe appeal.
(c) The provisions of this section notwithstanding, the parties participating in theproceeding may, by agreement, extend the time periods specified in this section.
(6) The chief administrative officer may, upon consideration and weighing of the variousinterests and public policies pertinent to the classification and disclosure or nondisclosure, orderthe disclosure of information properly classified as private under Subsection 63G-2-302(2) orprotected under Section 63G-2-305 if the interests favoring access outweigh the interestsfavoring restriction of access.
(7) The governmental entity shall send written notice of the determination of the chiefadministrative officer to all participants. If the chief administrative officer affirms the denial in
whole or in part, the denial shall include a statement that the requester has the right to appeal thedenial to either the records committee or district court, the time limits for filing an appeal, andthe name and business address of the executive secretary of the records committee.
(8) A person aggrieved by a governmental entity's classification or designationdetermination under this chapter, but who is not requesting access to the records, may appeal thatdetermination using the procedures provided in this section. If a nonrequester is the onlyappellant, the procedures provided in this section shall apply, except that the determination onthe appeal shall be made within 30 days after receiving the notice of appeal.
(9) The duties of the chief administrative officer under this section may be delegated.
Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 382, 2008 General Session