Government records director orders Utah County to search for and describe Children's Justice Center records

The Government Records Office director on record ordered Utah County to conduct a reasonable search for records generated by the Provo Children's Justice Center (CJC) and to provide a description of the search results and of any records withheld with statutory citations.

The decision followed a hearing in which petitioner counsel, identified in the record as Mister Gadd, said his client, Natalia Jones, was the mother of two minor children who received services at the CJC after allegations of abuse. "A photograph is a photograph, and that's not exempted under the statute," Gadd said while arguing that photographs, intake forms and non-interview reports created during the visits are government records subject to GRAMA. He also said the petitioner provided signed HIPAA authorizations and requested a record-by-record denial list with citations under Utah Code 63G-2-205.

Utah County counsel, identified as Miss Cole, told the director that interview recordings and transcripts at the CJC are not GRAMA records and that medical records are governed by HIPAA. Cole said medical records had already been released previously under HIPAA and offered to forward emails showing transmission. Autumn Jones, the CJC office coordinator, testified the agency uses a case-management system that generates a consolidated log of intake data, attendance and treatment dates and that medical photographs are sensitive and typically used in criminal proceedings.

The director resolved that CJC interviews and recordings are not producible under GRAMA, but found the record and testimony did not show a reasonable search for nonexempt records outside of interview recordings. The director ordered the respondent to "conduct a reasonable search for records that are not specifically exempt," to provide a description of the search and its results, and to include descriptions and statutory citations for withheld medical records. The director said a written decision will follow within seven business days and that parties may appeal to district court within 30 calendar days.

The ruling requires Utah County to identify what responsive records exist beyond the case-management log the CJC provided and to document the search steps taken. Counsel for the petitioner had asked for original intake forms that might have been scanned into the system and for a record-by-record denial list; the director cited Utah Code 63G-2-205(2)(a)-(b) when addressing that request.

The director's oral order resolves the immediate discovery issue but leaves the medical-records dispute open to further process; the director said medical records withheld under applicable statutes should be listed with the legal authority cited. The office will issue a written decision within seven business days.