State legislators are pushing forward to dispel ambiguity about whether police forces affiliated with private universities are bound by Utah public-records laws.
On Monday, the state Senate unanimously passed a bill that would declare outright that these agencies — such as Brigham Young University’s police department — must comply with the Government Records Access and Management Act, or GRAMA.
Before the vote, Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, told his colleagues that BYU’s general counsel spoke in support of his bill during a committee hearing last week.
But the BYU department has taken issue with various requests for documents made through GRAMA, arguing that it is exempt from transparency requirements because of its affiliation with a private university.