Utah State Records Committee looking to fill vacancy for public member

Do you have an interest in open government? The Utah State Records Committee is looking for you.

The committee is seeking applications from people interested in filling the vacancy for a second public member on the seven-member body. The committee hears appeals of records requests, as well as establishes records retention policies.

The board includes representatives of local government, news media, private business, the governor's office and the public.

The current opening was created when the Utah State Legislature amended the law defining the committee's membership, converting the state auditor's position into a public member's seat. State Auditor John Dougall asked for the change on the grounds that he didn't want a conflict of interest if he had to audit the committee.

(Dougall fired Betsy Ross, the auditor's appointee to the records committee, claiming she was not doing her job as the auditor's director of legislative and government affairs. Ross, as the committee' chair, had opposed HB477, the bill Dougall sponsored as a lawmaker that gutted the Government Records Access and Management Act).

The public member would be nominated by the governor, and approved by the Utah State Senate.

Lex Hemphill, the committee's chairman, said interested parties can apply on the governor's website, under boards and commission, or by contacting the board's secretary, Susan Mumford, at smumford@utah.gov or at 801-531-3861. Hemphill said contacting Mumford would allow the committee to know who applied.