Utah County routes GRAMA appeals to county administrator in ordinance change

The Utah County Board of Commissioners voted Jan. 31 to amend how residents start appeals under the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA), requiring appeals to be sent to the county administrator, Ezra, instead of the commission chair.

County Attorney’s Office staff described the change as an administrative fix to avoid deadline and routing errors that can occur when appeals are submitted to different rotating chairs each year. Adam of the county attorney’s office said, “this ordinance is doing is instead of having the appeal or the request for the appeal to go to the chair, it's going to go to the county administrator, which is Ezra.” He and staff noted Utah County processes roughly 2,000 GRAMA requests annually and that a consistent point of intake would help start the appeal clock reliably.

Supporters said a single, permanent official would be more familiar with the process and could ensure timely routing to the board for decision. County Administrator Ezra was identified in the presentation as the intended point of intake; the ordinance retains the county commissioners as the deciding body on appeals. Commissioner Sakovich questioned whether the proposal might create “an administrative jam,” saying the specific language could unintentionally box in the process: “I'm concerned that the language we add to this particular agenda item may be a more of a stumbling block than necessary.” Staff and other commissioners replied that the change is aimed at clarity and consistency and that appeals would still be heard by the commission for final determination.

A motion to approve the ordinance was made and seconded; the board adopted the change by voice vote with a single recorded opposition during discussion. The ordinance is intended to take effect as adopted and route future GRAMA appeals through the county administrator’s office.

What comes next: county staff will update intake procedures and public-facing instructions to reflect the administrator as the intake recipient, and appeals will continue to be decided by the Board of Commissioners.