Davis County officials propose dedicated records unit in sheriff’s office to handle surge in expungement and public records requests

Davis County Budget Committee members heard on April 14 that the sheriff’s office is proposing a small records unit to handle a recent surge in government records and expungement requests.

A sheriff’s office representative told the committee that the office has seen a marked increase in both walk‑in records requests and automatic expungements created by recent state law changes. “Last year, we had over 724 requests come through the next request system in the county,” the sheriff’s office representative said, and staff reported that so far in 2025 about 483 people have walked in with expungement papers and about 99 automated expungement notices have been generated by the system.

The proposal would convert a vacant Office Specialist II position to a records supervisor (a higher grade), repurpose at least one other upcoming vacancy and fold an existing jail records position under the same supervisor, creating a three‑person records unit serving the entire sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office representative described the work as “complicated,” including intake records, court‑related records, inmate file management and properly sealing records when expungements are ordered.

County human resources staff and a controller’s office representative joined the discussion and said the conversion is intended to be achieved largely by reclassifying existing vacancies rather than adding headcount. Officials estimated the reclassification to a higher grade would increase the supervisor’s midpoint cost by roughly $16,000 annually; final, fully loaded costs would be provided after staff complete a pricing analysis. The committee asked staff to return with the detailed cost and an analysis comparing staffing and workload with nearby counties; a commissioner specifically requested information comparing Davis County workload to Weber County and others.

Committee members pressed staff on operational details raised during the presentation: the sheriff’s office representative said record searches currently require checking at least three different legacy systems in some cases, which contributes to manual backlogs; staff described a prior pattern of hiring general office specialists to perform records tasks informally as records work grew more complex.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the reclassification or on creating the unit during the meeting; staff were asked to finish the pricing and bring back a narrative and comparative analysis for commissioners to review.

Why it matters: County officials said recent statutory and procedural changes have increased the volume and complexity of records work at the sheriff’s office. If the county creates a dedicated records unit, proponents say it could reduce errors, speed responses to court orders and automatic expungements, and free sworn personnel from administrative tasks.

Looking ahead: Staff will return with a cost estimate, the proposed job grade and a short narrative comparing Davis County’s records workload to similar counties.