Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Records topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House narrows public access to court records for limited domestic-violence searches, HB249 passes
Summary
The House passed a substitute for HB249 to provide limited subscription-based access to court database records focused on domestic-violence charges; sponsors said the records are already public while opponents urged broader access and raised privacy concerns; the bill passed 68-0.
The Utah House on Feb. 18 passed a substitute to House Bill 249 that narrows public access to the courts' Exchange database so individuals can perform targeted searches for domestic-violence charges through a limited subscription mechanism. The House adopted the substitute and passed the measure 68-0.
Representative Handy, sponsor, said the substitute restricts the searches to domestic-violence matters and sets up a narrow, low-cost access point (for example, $5 per search or a small monthly subscription) to allow people — often women in dating or domestic situations — to check whether a potential partner has relevant prior charges. "These are public records maintained by the courts," Handy said, and the substitute aims to make a practical, limited form of access available without opening the entire public database.
Other members said they preferred broader public access and raised concerns about creating a "pseudo-public" system where commercially available background services have greater reach than the public. Representative Brammer and Representative Tuscher both urged greater openness to preserve public-records access; Representative Wilcox cautioned the House to balance openness with protections for people who were never convicted. Sponsor Handy said the substitute narrowed the bill in response to concerns and recognized programming costs imposed on courts; he noted a one-time programming charge and roughly $15,000 in additional programming in the second substitute.
After debate and summation, the House passed the substitute 68-0 and will transmit HB249 to the Senate.
Next steps: HB249 proceeds to the Senate for committee review. The courts will need to identify programming costs and implement the narrowed Exchange-access mechanism if the bill becomes law.
