Brigham Young University may not have a police department after Sept. 1. But if it does, the department would be explicitly subject to Utah’s public-records law under a bill that earned committee approval on Tuesday.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously for SB197, following statements in support of the legislation by BYU’s general counsel and police chief.
“We have no issue with being held to the same government requirements as other law-enforcement agencies,” said BYU Police Department Chief Chris Autry.
But the department has taken issue with various requests for documents made under the state’s Government Records Access and Management Act, or GRAMA, arguing that it is exempt from transparency requirements because of its affiliation with a private university.