AVERT Policies and Procedures 1040
1.0 REFERENCE 4.1 PUBLIC RECORDS (Section 5.0) - The general rule is that all records are considered public unless specifically provided otherwise. Therefore, the list in section 5.0 is only by example and should not be considered exhaustive. The law provides that there are two varieties of public records, as follows: 4.1.1 The first tier of public records, section 5.1, are records which are always treated as open and available to the public. 4.1.2 The second tier of public records, section 5.2, are those records which are usually classified as available to the public, but which may be classified as non-public under limited circumstances. 4.2 PRIVATE RECORDS (Section 6.0) - The law provides that many records regarding a person's personal circumstances may be classified as private and unavailable for disclosure. As with public records, private records are also divided into two tiers, as follows: 4.2.1 The first tier of private records, section 6.1, includes those records which are always classified as private. 4.2.2 The second tier of private records, section 6.2, includes records which are usually classified as private. 4.3 CONTROLLED RECORDS (Section 7.0) - Records which are classified as controlled by the law generally relate to medical or mental health records, the release of which would likely be detrimental to the subject of the record. 4.4 PROTECTED RECORDS (Section 8.0) - Protected records generally deal with those matters where release of the information may be harmful to government working and processes, including materials dealing with confidential commercial information, purchasing strategies, investigations and audits, public safety, attorney-client relationships, the minutes of closed meetings, and similar information. 4.5 NON-RECORDS (Section 9.0) - Under GRAMA, some kinds of written, computerized or other materials are not considered records at all and thus need not be designated, classified, scheduled for retention or released to the public. Non-records include materials privately owned by an employee, drafts, and materials protected by copyright. 4.6 EXEMPT RECORDS (Section 10.0) - Some records are not considered subject to the Act and are referred to as exempt. Exempt records are materials to which access is restricted by court order or statute. 5.0 PUBLIC RECORDS 5.1 The following AVERT records are classified as public unless they contain information expressly permitted to be treated confidentially under specific federal or state laws, regulations or court orders. 5.1.1 AVERT Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws and Central Organization Policies & Procedures; 5.1.2 names, gross compensation, job titles, job descriptions, number of hours worked per pay period, dates of employment, and relevant education, previous employment and similar job qualifications of AVERT's former and present employees and officers, excluding investigative personnel if disclosure could reasonably be expected to impair the effectiveness of investigations or endanger any individual's safety; 5.1.3 final opinions, including concurring and dissenting opinions, and order that are made by the Board or another AVERT entity in an administrative proceeding except that if the proceedings were properly closed to the public, the opinion and order may be withheld to the extent that they contain information that is private, controlled or protected; 5.1.4 final interpretations of rules, policies or procedures by the Board or another AVERT entity unless classified as protected as provided in sections 8.14, 8.15 and 8.16; 5.1.5 information contained in or compiled from a transcript, minutes or report of the open portions of a meeting as provided by the Bylaws, including the records of all votes of each member of the Board or Committee; 5.1.6 disclosure statements filed in accordance with AVERT Policies & Procedures # 1020 - "Professional Ethics and Conflicts of Interest"; 5.1.7 records filed with or maintained by the Record Keeping Committee, Secretary, or Treasurer or other AVERT entities that give public notice of: 5.1.7.1 titles or encumbrances to real property; 5.1.7.2 restrictions on the use of real property; 5.1.8 records that evidence incorporations, mergers, name changes and uniform commercial code filings; 5.1.9 data on individuals that would otherwise be private under this chapter if the individual who is the subject of the record has given AVERT written permission to make the records available to the public; 5.1.10 documentation of the compensation that Board or another AVERT entity pays to a contractor or vendor; and 5.1.11 summary data, such as annual reports. 5.2 The following records are normally public but, to the extent that a record is expressly exempt from disclosure, access may be restricted if required by federal or state laws, regulations or court orders, or if the record has been properly classified non-public as private (Section 6.0), controlled (Section 7.0) or protected (Section 8.0): 5.2.1 administrative staff manuals, policy and procedure manuals and standard operating procedures; 5.2.2 records documenting a contractor's or vendor's compliance with the terms of a contract with the Board or another AVERT entity; 5.2.3 records documenting the services provided by a contractor or a vendor to the extent the records would be public if prepared by AVERT; 5.2.4 contracts entered into by the Board or another AVERT entity; 5.2.5 any voucher, or contract that deals with the receipt or expenditure of funds by the Treasurer or another AVERT entity; 5.2.6 records relating to government assistance or incentives publicly disclosed, contracted for, or given by governmental entities to the Corporation; 5.2.7 mobilization logs and initial damage reports; 5.2.8 correspondence by and with the Board or another AVERT entity in which the Board or another AVERT entity determines or states an opinion; 5.2.9 empirical data contained in drafts if the empirical data is not reasonably available to the requester elsewhere in similar form; 5.2.10 drafts that are circulated to anyone other than: 5.2.10.1 the Board or another AVERT entity; 5.2.10.2 a federal agency if AVERT and the federal agency are jointly responsible for implementation of a program or project that has been approved; 5.2.10.3 a government-managed corporation; or 5.2.10.4 a contractor or vendor; 5.2.11 drafts that have never been finalized but were relied upon by the Board or another AVERT entity in carrying out action or policy; 5.2.12 original data in a computer program if the Board or another AVERT entity chooses not to disclose the program; 5.2.13 records that would disclose information relating to formal charges or disciplinary actions against a past or present Trustees, Directors, Officers, Agents, Representatives, Employees, Volunteers or Members if the disciplinary action has been completed and all time periods for administrative appeal have expired and the formal charges were sustained; 5.2.14 final audit reports; 5.2.15 occupational and professional licenses; 5.2.16 businesses licenses; and 5.2.19 a notice of hearing, or similar records used to initiate proceedings for discipline or sanctions against persons regulated by the Policies & Procedures, but not including records that initiate employee discipline. 5.3 The list of public records in this section is not exhaustive and should not be used to limit access to records. 6.0 PRIVATE RECORDS 6.1 The following records are private: 6.1.1 records concerning an individual's eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits, social services, welfare benefits or the determination of benefit levels; 6.1.2 records containing data on individuals describing medical history, diagnosis, condition, treatment, evaluation or similar medical data; 6.1.3 records of AVERT funded organizations that when examined alone or with other records identify a patron; 6.1.4 records concerning a current or former Trustee, Director, Officer, Agent, Representative, Employee, Volunteer and Member or applicant thereof that would disclose that individual's home address, e-mail address home telephone number, social security number, insurance coverage, marital status or payroll deductions. 6.2 The following records are private if properly classified by the Record Keeping Committee: 6.2.1 records concerning a current or former Trustee, Director, Officer, Agent, Representative, Employee, Volunteer and Member, or applicant thereof, including performance evaluations and personal status information such as race, religion or disabilities, but not including records that are public under Section 5.1.2, or Section 5.2.15, or private under Section 6.1.4. 6.2.2 records describing an individual's finances, except that the following are public: 6.2.2.1 records described in Section 5.1. 6.2.2.2 information provided to the Board or another AVERT entity for the purpose of complying with a financial assurance requirement; or 6.2.2.3 records that must be disclosed in accordance with another statute; 6.2.3 records of independent state agencies if the disclosure of those records would conflict with the fiduciary obligations of the agency; 6.2.4 other records containing data on individuals the disclosure of which constitutes a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; and 6.2.5 records provided to AVERT by the United States, the State of Utah, or by a government entity outside the state that are given with the requirement that the records be managed as private records, if the providing entity states in writing that the record would not be subject to public disclosure if retained by it. 7.0 CONTROLLED RECORDS 7.1 the record contains medical, psychiatric or psychological data about an individual; and 7.2 the Board reasonably believes that: 7.2.1 releasing the information in the record to the subject of the record would be detrimental to the subject's mental health or to the safety of any individual, or 7.2.2 releasing the information would constitute a violation of normal professional practice and medical ethics; and 7.3 AVERT has properly classified the record. 8.0 PROTECTED RECORDS 8.1 trade secrets as defined by State law (Section 13-24-2, U C A), if the person submitting the trade secret has provided the Board or another AVERT entity with reasons justifying business confidentiality; 8.2 commercial information or non-individual financial information obtained from a person if: 8.2.1 disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to result in unfair competitive injury to the person submitting the information or would impair the ability of the Board or another AVERT entity to obtain necessary information in the future; 8.2.2 the person submitting the information has a greater interest in prohibiting access than the public in gaining access; and 8.2.3 the person submitting the information has provided the Board or another AVERT entity with the information specified in Section 8.1; 8.3 commercial or financial information acquired or prepared by the Board or another AVERT entity to the extent that disclosure would lead to financial speculations in currencies, securities or commodities that will interfere with a planned transaction by the Board or another AVERT entity or cause substantial financial injury to the Board or another AVERT entity; 8.4 test questions and answers to be used in future certification, registration, employment or academic examinations; 8.5 records the disclosure of which would impair AVERT procurement proceedings or give an unfair advantage to any person proposing to enter into a contract or agreement with the Board or another AVERT entity, except that this subsection does not restrict the right of a person to see bids submitted to or by the Board or another AVERT entity after bidding has closed; 8.6 records that would identify real property or the appraisal or estimated value of real or personal property, including intellectual property, under consideration for public acquisition before any rights to the property are acquired unless: 8.6.1 public interest in obtaining access to the information outweighs the Corporation's need to acquire the property on the best terms possible; 8.6.2 the information has already been disclosed to persons not employed by or under a duty of confidentiality to the Corporation; 8.6.3 in the case of records that would identify property, potential sellers of the described property have already learned of the Corporation's plans to acquire the property; or 8.6.4 in the case of records that would identify the appraisal or estimated value of property, the potential sellers have already learned of the Corporation's estimated value; 8.7 records prepared in contemplation of sale, exchange, lease, rental, or other compensated transaction of real or personal property including intellectual property, which, if disclosed prior to completion of the transaction, would reveal the appraisal or estimated value of the subject property, unless: 8.7.1 the public interest in access outweighs the interests in restricting access, including the Corporations's interest in maximizing the financial benefit of the transaction; or 8.7.2 when prepared by or on behalf of the Corporation or another AVERT entity, appraisals or estimates of the value of the subject property have already been disclosed to persons not employed by or under a duty of confidentiality to the Corporation or other AVERT entity. 8.8 records recreated or maintained for civil, criminal, audit, discipline, licensing, certification or registration purposes, if release of the records: 8.8.1 reasonably could be expected to interfere with investigations undertaken for discipline, licensing, certification or registration purposes; 8.8.2 reasonably could be expected to interfere with audits or disciplinary proceedings; 8.8.3 would create a danger of depriving a person of a right to a fair trial or impartial hearing; 8.8.4 reasonably could be expected to disclose the identity of a source who is not generally known outside of Corporation and, in the case of a record complied in the course of an investigation, disclose information furnished by a source not generally known outside of the Corporation if disclosure would compromise the source; or 8.8.5 reasonably could be expected to disclose investigative or audit techniques, procedures, policies or orders not generally known outside of the Corporation if disclosure would interfere with enforcement or audit efforts; 8.9 records, the disclosure of which would jeopardize the life or safety of an individual; 8.10 records, the disclosure of which would jeopardize the security of AVERT property, programs, or record-keeping systems from damage, theft or other appropriation or use contrary to law or AVERT policy; 8.11 records that, if disclosed, would jeopardize the security or safety of a correctional facility, or records relating to incarceration, treatment, probation or parole, that would interfere with the control and supervision of an offender's incarceration, treatment, probation or parole; 8.12 records and audit work papers that identify audit, collection and operational procedures and methods used by the Treasurer, if disclosure would interfere with audits or collections; 8.13 records of the Board or another AVERT audit organization relating to an ongoing or planned audit until the final audit is released; 8.14 records prepared by or on behalf of the Board or another AVERT entity solely in anticipation of litigation that are not available under the rules of discovery; 8.15 records disclosing an attorney's work product, including the mental impressions or legal theories of an attorney or another representative of the Corporation concerning litigation; 8.16 records of communications between the Corporation and an attorney representing, retained or employed by the Corporation if the communications would be privileged as provided in Section 78-24-8 U C A; 8.17 personal files of a Trustee, Director, Officer, Agent, Representative, Employee, Volunteer or Member, including personal correspondence; 8.18 drafts, unless otherwise classified as public; 8.19 records concerning the Corporation's business plans; 8.20 records of investigations of loss occurrences and analyses of loss occurrences that may be covered by County Risk Management and the Governmental Immunity Fund; 8.21 records, other than personnel evaluations, that contain a personal recommendation concerning an individual, if disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, or disclosure is not in the public interest; 8.22 records of independent state agencies, if the disclosure of the records would conflict with the fiduciary obligations of the agency; 8.23 records provided by the United States or by a government entity outside the state that are given to the Corporation with a requirement that they be managed as protected records, if the providing entity certifies that the record would not be subject to public disclosure if retained by it; 8.24 transcripts, minutes or reports of the closed portion of any meeting except as provided in the Bylaws; 8.25 records that would reveal the contents of settlement negotiations, but not including final settlements or empirical data to the extent that they are not otherwise exempt from disclosure; 8.26 records that would reveal negotiations regarding assistance or incentives offered by or requested from the Corporation for the purpose of contract negotiations, but this section may not be used to restrict access to a record evidencing a final contract; 8.27 materials to which access must be limited for purposes of securing or maintaining the Corporation's proprietary protection of intellectual property rights, including patents, copyrights and trade secrets; 8.28 the name of a donor or a prospective donor to the Corporation, including a public institution of higher education, or other information concerning the donation that could reasonably be expected to reveal the identity of the donor, provided that: 8.28.1 the donor requests anonymity in writing; 8.28.2 any terms, conditions, restrictions or privileges relating to the donation may not be classified "protected" by the Corporation under this subsection; and 8.28.3 except for public institutions of higher education, the AVERT Organization to which the donation is made is primarily engaged in educational or charitable, and has no regulatory or legislative authority over the donor, a member of his or her immediate family or any entity owned or controlled by the donor or his or her immediate family. 9.0 NON-RECORDS 9.1 Temporary drafts or similar materials, regardless of format, prepared for the writer's personal use or for the personal use of the writer's supervisors; 9.2 Materials that are legally owned by a Trustee, Director, Officer, Agent, Representative, Employee, Volunteer or Member in his or her private capacity; 9.3 Materials to which access is limited by laws of the copyright or patent, unless the copyright or patent is owned by the Corporation; 9.4 Proprietary software; 9.5 Junk mail or commercial publications received by the Corporation; 9.6 Books and other materials that are catalogued or inventoried in the collections of a library open to the public, regardless of form; 9.7 Daily calendars and other personal notes prepared for the writer's personal use or for the use of the writer's supervisors; 9.8 Computer software programs which are developed or purchased by AVERT for its own use; or 9.9 Notes or internal memoranda prepared as part of the deliberative process by an organization, such as the Board of Trustees or a grievance hearing board, charged by policy with performing a quasi-judicial function. 10.0 EXEMPT RECORDS |