The Complainant in this matter was concerned with the governmental entity’s denial of
the Complainant’s requests to amend or correct a record. The first request to amend or correct
a record specifically referenced Utah Code § 63G-2-603. The governmental entity denied the
request under Utah Code § 63G-2-204(1)(a)(ii) because it did not “identify a record”. The
Complainant sent a second request to amend or correct a record which the governmental
entity denied because it was a “duplicate” request under Utah Code § 63G-2-201(7)(a)(iv). The
Complainant then appealed this second denial to the chief administrative officer of the
governmental entity as described in Utah Code § 63G-2-401. The appeal was denied, and the
Complainant filed an appeal to the Director of the Government Records Office as described in
Utah Code § 63G-2-403. The Director issued a decision that said he did not have jurisdiction to
hear the appeal because it was not a request for records but a request to amend or correct a
record which is governed by the Utah Administrative Procedures Act
Based on this complaint, the governmental entity conducted a further review and
admitted that they had deemed the Complainant’s requests to be requests for records under
Utah Code § 63G-2-204. The government entity acknowledged that these were actually
requests to amend or correct a record under Utah Code § 63G-2-603. The governmental entity
sent a new letter to the Complainant which said the requests to amend or correct a record
were originally denied under the wrong statute and that incorrect information about how to
appeal was provided. Included in this letter was a denial of the Complainant’s request to
amend or correct a record pursuant to Utah Code § 63G-2-603. The letter also included a
description of how to appeal the denial under Utah Code § 63G-2-603(7). The Complainant
has sought appeal of this denial and is seeking to submit a written statement contesting the
information in the record as provided in Utah Code § 63G-2-603(6).
The matter was concluded after encouraging the governmental entity to establish a
procedure by which an individual may request an amendment or correction of personal data as
required by Utah Code § 63A-19-403(1).