(A) Office; duties generally; copies of records evidence.
(1) The office of the City Recorder shall be located at the place of the Council or at some other place convenient thereto as the Council may direct. Within the office of the Recorder, a properly qualified employee may be appointed by the Recorder as the Deputy Recorder. The Deputy Recorder is authorized to perform, and shall perform, all duties of the Recorder during such times when the Recorder is unavailable or unable to perform same. Any official act of the Deputy Recorder taken in the absence of the Recorder shall be valid and binding to the same extent as if done by the Recorder.
(2) The City Recorder or Deputy City Recorder shall attend the meetings and keep the record of the proceedings of the Council. Copies of all papers filed in the Recorder’s office and transcripts from all records of the Council, if certified by the Recorder under the corporate seal, are admissible in all courts as originals.
(Prior Code, § 2.04.010)
(B) Countersigning contracts. The City Recorder shall countersign all contracts made on behalf of the city and shall maintain a properly indexed record of all such contracts.
(Prior Code, § 2.04.020)
(C) Officio Auditor. The City Recorder shall be ex officio City Auditor and shall perform the duties of that office.
(Prior Code, § 2.04.030)
(D) Record of ordinances. The City Recorder shall record, in a book used exclusively for that purpose, all ordinances passed by the governing body. The Recorder shall give each ordinance a number. Immediately following each ordinance, or codification of ordinances, the Recorder shall make or cause to be made a certificate stating the date of passage and of the date of publication or posting, as required. The record and memorandum, or a certified copy thereof, shall be prima facie evidence of the contents, passage and publication or posting of the ordinance or codification.
(Prior Code, § 2.04.040)
(E) Election Officer. The City Recorder shall be the city’s Elections Officer and perform the duties of that office as outlined in the Utah Code.
(Prior Code, § 2.04.050)
(F) Government Records Access and Management Act. The Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA), as adopted by the state and contained in U.C.A. §§ 63G-2-101 through 63G-2-901, as amended, with the exception of U.C.A. § 63G-2-403, are hereby approved and adopted as part of the code of the city.
(1) Appeals to the City Council.
(a) Any person aggrieved by a city entity’s access determination, under U.C.A. Title 63, Chapter 2, may appeal the determination within 30 days to the City Council by filing a notice of appeal.
(b) If the city entity claims extraordinary circumstances and specifies the date when the records will be available under U.C.A. § 63G-2-204(3) as amended, and if the requester believes the extraordinary circumstances to not exist or that the time specified is unreasonable the requester may appeal the city entity’s claim of circumstances by the governmental entity, despite the lack of a “determination” or its equivalent under U.C.A. § 63G-2-204(7), as amended.
(c) The notice of appeal shall be filed with the City Recorder and shall contain the following information:
1. The petitioner’s name, mailing address and daytime telephone number;
2. A copy of any denial of the records requests; and
3. The relief sought.
(d) The petitioner may file a short statement of facts, reasons and legal authority in support of the appeal.
(e) No later than three business days after receiving a notice of appeal, the City Recorder shall:
1. Schedule a hearing for the City Council to discuss the appeal which shall be held no sooner than 15 days and no later than 30 days from the date of the filing of the appeal;
2. Send a copy of the notice to the petitioner; and
3. Send a copy of the notice of appeal, supporting statement and a notice of hearing to:
a. Each member of the City Council;
b. The records officer and the chief administrative officer of the governmental entity from which the appeal originated;
c. Any person who made a business confidentiality claim under U.C.A. § 63G-2-308 for a record that is the subject of the appeal; and
d. All persons who participated in the proceedings before the governmental entity’s chief administrative officer.
(f) No later than ten business days after receiving the notice of appeal, the governmental entity may submit to the City Recorder of the City Council a written statement of facts, reasons and legal authority in support of its position. The governmental entity shall send a copy of the written statement to the petitioner by first class mail, postage prepaid. The City Recorder shall forward a copy of the written statement to each member of the City Council.
(g) 1. No later than ten business days after the notice of appeal is sent by the City Recorder a person whose legal interest may be substantially affected by the proceeding may file a request for intervention before the City Council.
2. Any written statement of facts, reasons and legal authority in support of the intervener’s position shall be filed with the request for intervention. The person seeking intervention shall provide copies of the statement to all parties to the proceedings before the City Council.
(h) The City Council shall hold a hearing at least 14 days after the date of the notice of appeal is filed, but no longer than 52 calendar days after receiving the notice of appeal.
(i) At the hearing, the City Council shall allow the parties to testify, present evidence and comment on the issues. The City Council may allow other interested persons to comment on the issues.
1. The City Council may review the disputed records. The review shall be in camera.
2. Members of the City Council may not disclose any information or record reviewed by the City Council in camera unless the disclosure is otherwise authorized by this section.
(j) 1. Discovery is prohibited, but the City Council may issue subpoenas or other orders to compel production of necessary evidence.
2. The City Council’s review shall be de nova.
(k) 1. No later than three business days after the hearing, the City Council shall issue a signed order either granting the petition in whole or in part or upholding the determination of the governmental entity in whole or in part.
2. The City Council may, upon consideration and weighing of the various interest and public policies pertinent to the classification and disclosure or non-disclosure, order the disclosure of information properly classified as private, controlled or protected if the public interest favoring access outweighs the interest favoring restriction of access.
3. In making a determination under division (F)(1)(k)2. above, the City Council shall consider and, where appropriate, limit the requester’s use and further disclosure of the record in order to protect privacy interests in the case of private or controlled records, business confidentiality interest in the case of records protected under U.C.A. § 63G2-2-304(1) and (2) or its successor statute, as amended, and privacy interest of the public interest in the case of other protected records.
(l) The order of the City Council shall include:
1. A statement of reasons for the decision, including citations to this subchapter, court rule or order, and other state statute, federal statute or federal regulation that governs disclosure of the record, provided that the citations do not disclose private, controlled or protected information;
2. A description of the record or portions of the record to which access was ordered or denied; provided that, the description does not disclose private, controlled or protected information, or information exempt from disclosure under U.C.A. § 63G-2-201(3)(b), as amended;
3. A statement that any party to the proceeding before the City Council may appeal the City Council’s decision to District Court; and
4. A brief summary of the appeals process, the time limits for filing an appeal, and a notice that in order to protect its rights on appeal, the party may wish to seek advice from an attorney.
(m) If the City Council fails to issue a decision within 35 days of the filing of the notice of appeal, that failure shall be considered the equivalent of an order denying the appeal. The petitioner shall notify the City Council in writing if he considers the appeal denied.
(n) Option for appealing a denial. If the City Council denies the records request in accordance with this section, the petition may:
1. Appeal the denial to the records committee as provided in U.C.A. § 63G-2-403, as amended; and
2. Petition for judicial review in district court as provided in U.C.A. § 63G-2-404, as amended.
(2) Fee schedule. The associated fees to obtain records under this section shall be set by resolution of the City Council. These fees may be changed from time to time as determined by resolution of the City Council.
(Prior Code, § 2.04.060)
(Ord. 04-06, passed 2-19-2004; Ord. 11-17, passed 6-1-2011; Ord. 23-11, passed 5-4-2023)