Utah’s records appeals office reports shorter hearing waits and asks for authority to decline some hearings
In its first full year, the Government Records Office says average hearing waits fell from about 130 days to within the 64-day guideline, ending at 52. New appeals jumped to 309. It asks lawmakers for more discretion over hearings.
Continuing story: Auditing Utah state agencies
Utah’s Government Records Office, which hears appeals of public-records denials, reports that its average wait for a hearing fell from roughly 130 days at the start of fiscal 2026 to within the 64-day statutory guideline by March 2026. Waits rose slightly to 52 days by the end of the year as new appeals increased. [1]
The office replaced the State Records Committee under S.B. 277 from the 2025 session, and appeals pending before the committee on May 7, 2025 transferred to it. Director Lonny Pehrson started June 23, 2025. The report, required by state law, covers July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026 and was heard by the Government Operations Interim Committee on Sept. 16. [1]
The caseload
The office started the year with 102 appeals carried over from the committee, including 14 held in abeyance. It received 309 new appeals, which it calls “a drastic increase over past years,” held 170 hearings over 42 hearing dates, issued written decisions on 276 appeals and saw 79 more withdrawn or resolved by other means. It ended the year with 45 pending and three suspended because of court cases. [1]
The report says rules adopted in November 2025 allowed limited motions to dismiss and let parties waive formal hearings in favor of written decisions. [1]
What it is asking lawmakers for
The office recommends expanding the director’s authority to decline to schedule a hearing when an agency says no records exist or all records have been provided and the requester has not met the burden of showing the record existed, was concealed or was not properly searched for. It also proposes letting the director dismiss an appeal without a hearing if it becomes moot after it is scheduled, giving agencies more time to file statements of facts, and changes to mediation rules. [1]
The office says the late-year rise in appeals required substantial overtime by the director and more use of legal counsel. If the trend continues, it says lawmakers may need to consider more legal staff or longer statutory deadlines for hearings and orders. [1]
These figures are reported by the office itself, not an independent audit.
Sources
Reporting by The Utah Ledger from the public records above. AI-assisted, checked against those records.