Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

S.B. 60 (2021GS)

Sponsor

Sen. Bramble, C.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/16/2021

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Spencer J. Cox

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• amends the definition of "initial contact report";
• limits a relevant law enforcement entity from disclosing an accident report to a licensed private investigator to circumstances in which the license private investigator represents certain individuals involved or affected by the accident that is the subject of the accident report; and
• makes technical changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

ACCIDENT REPORTS AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Curtis S. Bramble
House Sponsor: 
Paul Ray
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill amends provisions related to the disclosure of accident reports.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ amends the definition of "initial contact report";
▸ limits a relevant law enforcement entity from disclosing an accident report to a
licensed private investigator to circumstances in which the license private
investigator represents certain individuals involved or affected by the accident that
is the subject of the accident report; and
▸ makes technical changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
41-6a-404
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2018, Chapter 162
53-9-107
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2011, Chapter 432
63G-2-103
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2020, Chapter 365
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
41-6a-404
 is amended to read:
41-6a-404.
Accident reports -- When confidential -- Insurance policy information
-- Use as evidence -- Penalty for false information.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Accompanying data" means all materials gathered by the investigating peace
officer in an accident investigation including:
(i) the identity of witnesses and, if known, contact information;
(ii) witness statements;
(iii) photographs and videotapes;
(iv) diagrams; and
(v) field notes.
(b) "Agent" means:
(i) a person's attorney;
(ii) a person's insurer;
(iii) a general acute hospital, as defined in Section 
26-21-2
, that:
(A) has an emergency room; and
(B) is providing or has provided emergency services to the person in relation to the
accident; or
(iv) any other individual or entity with signed permission from the person to receive
the person's accident report.
(2) (a) Except as provided in Subsections (3) and (7), all accident reports required in
this part to be filed with the department:
(i) are without prejudice to the reporting individual;
(ii) are protected and for the confidential use of the department or other state, local, or
federal agencies having use for the records for official governmental statistical, investigative,
and accident prevention purposes; and
(iii) may be disclosed only in a statistical form that protects the privacy of any person
involved in the accident.
(b) An investigating peace officer shall include in an accident report an indication as to
whether the accident occurred on a highway designated as a livestock highway in accordance
with Section 
72-3-112
 if the accident resulted in the injury or death of livestock.
(3) (a) Subject to the provisions of this section, the department or the responsible law
enforcement agency employing the peace officer that investigated the accident shall disclose an
accident report to:
(i) a person involved in the accident, excluding a witness to the accident;
(ii) a person suffering loss or injury in the accident;
(iii) an agent, parent, or legal guardian of a person described in Subsections (3)(a)(i)
and (ii);
(iv) subject to Subsection (3)(d), a member of the press or broadcast news media;
(v) a state, local, or federal agency that uses the records for official governmental,
investigative, or accident prevention purposes;
(vi) law enforcement personnel when acting in their official governmental capacity;
and
(vii) a licensed private investigator 
who:
(A) represents an individual described in Subsections (3)(a)(i) through (iii); and
(B) demonstrates that the representation of the individual described in Subsections
(3)(a)(i) through (iii) is directly related to the accident that is the subject of the accident report
.
(b) The responsible law enforcement agency employing the peace officer that
investigated the accident:
(i) shall in compliance with Subsection (3)(a):
(A) disclose an accident report; or
(B) upon written request disclose an accident report and its accompanying data within
10 business days from receipt of a written request for disclosure; or
(ii) may withhold an accident report, and any of its accompanying data if disclosure
would jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation or criminal prosecution.
(c) In accordance with Subsection (3)(a), the department or the responsible law
enforcement agency employing the investigating peace officer shall disclose whether any
person or vehicle involved in an accident reported under this section was covered by a vehicle
insurance policy, and the name of the insurer.
(d) Information provided to a member of the press or broadcast news media under
Subsection (3)(a)(iv) may only include:
(i) the name, age, sex, and city of residence of each person involved in the accident;
(ii) the make and model year of each vehicle involved in the accident;
(iii) whether or not each person involved in the accident was covered by a vehicle
insurance policy;
(iv) the location of the accident; and
(v) a description of the accident that excludes personal identifying information not
listed in Subsection (3)(d)(i).
(e) The department shall disclose to any requesting person the following vehicle
accident history information, excluding personal identifying information, in bulk electronic
form:
(i) any vehicle identifying information that is electronically available, including the
make, model year, and vehicle identification number of each vehicle involved in an accident;
(ii) the date of the accident; and
(iii) any electronically available data which describes the accident, including a
description of any physical damage to the vehicle.
(f) The department may establish a fee under Section 
63J-1-504
 based on the fair
market value of the information for providing bulk vehicle accident history information under
Subsection (3)(e).
(4) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (4)(b), accident reports filed under this section
may not be used as evidence in any civil or criminal trial arising out of an accident.
(b) (i) Upon demand of any party to the trial or upon demand of any court, the
department shall furnish a certificate showing that a specified accident report has or has not
been made to the department in compliance with law.
(ii) If the report has been made, the certificate furnished by the department shall show:
(A) the date, time, and location of the accident;
(B) the names and addresses of the drivers;
(C) the owners of the vehicles involved; and
(D) the investigating peace officers.
(iii) The reports may be used as evidence when necessary to prosecute charges filed in
connection with a violation of Subsection (5).
(5) A person who gives information in reports as required in this part knowing or
having reason to believe that the information is false is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
(6) The department and the responsible law enforcement agency employing the
investigating peace officer may charge a reasonable fee determined by the department under
Section 
63J-1-504
 for the cost incurred in disclosing an accident report or an accident report
and any of its accompanying data under Subsections (3)(a) and (b).
(7) (a) The Office of State Debt Collection may, in the performance of its regular
duties, disclose an accident report to:
(i) a person involved in the accident, excluding a witness to the accident;
(ii) an owner of a vehicle involved in the accident; or
(iii) an agent, parent, or legal guardian of a person described in Subsection (7)(a)(i) or
(ii).
(b) A disclosure under Subsection (7)(a) does not change the classification of the
record as a protected record under Section 
63G-2-305
.
Section 2. Section 
53-9-107
 is amended to read:
53-9-107.
Classification of licenses -- License required to act.
(1) Every person applying for a license under this chapter shall indicate on the
application which of the following licenses the applicant is applying for:
(a) an agency license shall be issued to an applicant who meets the agency
requirements of Sections 
53-9-108
 and 
53-9-109
;
(b) a registrant license shall be issued to an applicant who meets the registrant
requirements of Sections 
53-9-108
 and 
53-9-110
; or
(c) an apprentice license shall be issued to an applicant who meets the apprentice
requirements of Sections 
53-9-108
 and 
53-9-110
.
(2) Unless licensed under this chapter, a person may not:
(a) act or assume to act as, or represent himself to be:
(i) a licensee; or
(ii) a private investigator or private detective as defined in [
Subsection 
53-9-102
(16)
]
Section 
53-9-102
 or conduct any investigation as [
provided in Subsection 
53-9-102
(16)
]
described in the definition of private investigator or private detective
; or
(b) falsely represent to be employed by or for an independent contractor for an agency.
(3) A licensed registrant, as defined in Section 
53-9-102
, may only work as an
employee of, or as an independent contractor for, an agency licensed under this chapter, and
may not:
(a) advertise the licensed registrant's services or conduct investigations for the general
public; or
(b) employ other private investigators or hire them as independent contractors.
(4) (a) A licensed apprentice, as defined in Section 
53-9-102
, may only work under the
direct supervision and guidance of an agency licensed under this chapter, and may not:
(i) advertise the licensed apprentice's services or conduct investigations for the general
public;
(ii) employ other private investigators; or
(iii) obtain information from the Utah State Tax Commission Motor Vehicle Division
or Driver License Division within the Department of Public Safety, except the apprentice may
utilize information from these agencies for a legitimate business need and under the direct
supervision and guidance of a licensed agency.
(b) A registrant or apprentice whose license has been suspended or revoked shall
immediately notify the agency which supervises the registrant or apprentice of the action.
Section 3. Section 
63G-2-103
 is amended to read:
63G-2-103.
Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Audit" means:
(a) a systematic examination of financial, management, program, and related records
for the purpose of determining the fair presentation of financial statements, adequacy of
internal controls, or compliance with laws and regulations; or
(b) a systematic examination of program procedures and operations for the purpose of
determining their effectiveness, economy, efficiency, and compliance with statutes and
regulations.
(2) "Chronological logs" mean the regular and customary summary records of law
enforcement agencies and other public safety agencies that show:
(a) the time and general nature of police, fire, and paramedic calls made to the agency;
and
(b) any arrests or jail bookings made by the agency.
(3) "Classification," "classify," and their derivative forms mean determining whether a
record series, record, or information within a record is public, private, controlled, protected, or
exempt from disclosure under Subsection 
63G-2-201
(3)(b).
(4) (a) "Computer program" means:
(i) a series of instructions or statements that permit the functioning of a computer
system in a manner designed to provide storage, retrieval, and manipulation of data from the
computer system; and
(ii) any associated documentation and source material that explain how to operate the
computer program.
(b) "Computer program" does not mean:
(i) the original data, including numbers, text, voice, graphics, and images;
(ii) analysis, compilation, and other manipulated forms of the original data produced by
use of the program; or
(iii) the mathematical or statistical formulas, excluding the underlying mathematical
algorithms contained in the program, that would be used if the manipulated forms of the
original data were to be produced manually.
(5) (a) "Contractor" means:
(i) any person who contracts with a governmental entity to provide goods or services
directly to a governmental entity; or
(ii) any private, nonprofit organization that receives funds from a governmental entity.
(b) "Contractor" does not mean a private provider.
(6) "Controlled record" means a record containing data on individuals that is controlled
as provided by Section 
63G-2-304
.
(7) "Designation," "designate," and their derivative forms mean indicating, based on a
governmental entity's familiarity with a record series or based on a governmental entity's
review of a reasonable sample of a record series, the primary classification that a majority of
records in a record series would be given if classified and the classification that other records
typically present in the record series would be given if classified.
(8) "Elected official" means each person elected to a state office, county office,
municipal office, school board or school district office, local district office, or special service
district office, but does not include judges.
(9) "Explosive" means a chemical compound, device, or mixture:
(a) commonly used or intended for the purpose of producing an explosion; and
(b) that contains oxidizing or combustive units or other ingredients in proportions,
quantities, or packing so that:
(i) an ignition by fire, friction, concussion, percussion, or detonator of any part of the
compound or mixture may cause a sudden generation of highly heated gases; and
(ii) the resultant gaseous pressures are capable of:
(A) producing destructive effects on contiguous objects; or
(B) causing death or serious bodily injury.
(10) "Government audit agency" means any governmental entity that conducts an audit.
(11) (a) "Governmental entity" means:
(i) executive department agencies of the state, the offices of the governor, lieutenant
governor, state auditor, attorney general, and state treasurer, the Board of Pardons and Parole,
the Board of Examiners, the National Guard, the Career Service Review Office, the State
Board of Education, the Utah Board of Higher Education, and the State Archives;
(ii) the Office of the Legislative Auditor General, Office of the Legislative Fiscal
Analyst, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, the Legislature, and legislative
committees, except any political party, group, caucus, or rules or sifting committee of the
Legislature;
(iii) courts, the Judicial Council, the Administrative Office of the Courts, and similar
administrative units in the judicial branch;
(iv) any state-funded institution of higher education or public education; or
(v) any political subdivision of the state, but, if a political subdivision has adopted an
ordinance or a policy relating to information practices pursuant to Section 
63G-2-701
, this
chapter shall apply to the political subdivision to the extent specified in Section 
63G-2-701
 or
as specified in any other section of this chapter that specifically refers to political subdivisions.
(b) "Governmental entity" also means:
(i) every office, agency, board, bureau, committee, department, advisory board, or
commission of an entity listed in Subsection (11)(a) that is funded or established by the
government to carry out the public's business;
(ii) as defined in Section 
11-13-103
, an interlocal entity or joint or cooperative
undertaking;
(iii) as defined in Section 
11-13a-102
, a governmental nonprofit corporation;
(iv) an association as defined in Section 
53G-7-1101
;
(v) the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission; and
(vi) a law enforcement agency, as defined in Section 
53-1-102
, that employs one or
more law enforcement officers, as defined in Section 
53-13-103
.
(c) "Governmental entity" does not include the Utah Educational Savings Plan created
in Section 
53B-8a-103
.
(12) "Gross compensation" means every form of remuneration payable for a given
period to an individual for services provided including salaries, commissions, vacation pay,
severance pay, bonuses, and any board, rent, housing, lodging, payments in kind, and any
similar benefit received from the individual's employer.
(13) "Individual" means a human being.
(14) (a) "Initial contact report" means an initial written or recorded report, however
titled, prepared by peace officers engaged in public patrol or response duties describing official
actions initially taken in response to either a public complaint about or the discovery of an
apparent violation of law, which report may describe:
(i) the date, time, location, and nature of the complaint, the incident, or offense;
(ii) names of victims;
(iii) the nature or general scope of the agency's initial actions taken in response to the
incident;
(iv) the general nature of any injuries or estimate of damages sustained in the incident;
(v) the name, address, and other identifying information about any person arrested or
charged in connection with the incident; or
(vi) the identity of the public safety personnel, except undercover personnel, or
prosecuting attorney involved in responding to the initial incident.
(b) Initial contact reports do not include follow-up or investigative reports prepared
after the initial contact report. However, if the information specified in Subsection (14)(a)
appears in follow-up or investigative reports, it may only be treated confidentially if it is
private, controlled, protected, or exempt from disclosure under Subsection 
63G-2-201
(3)(b).
(c) Initial contact reports do not include accident reports, as that term is described in
Title 41, Chapter 6a, Part 4, Accident Responsibilities.
(15) "Legislative body" means the Legislature.
(16) "Notice of compliance" means a statement confirming that a governmental entity
has complied with an order of the State Records Committee.
(17) "Person" means:
(a) an individual;
(b) a nonprofit or profit corporation;
(c) a partnership;
(d) a sole proprietorship;
(e) other type of business organization; or
(f) any combination acting in concert with one another.
(18) "Private provider" means any person who contracts with a governmental entity to
provide services directly to the public.
(19) "Private record" means a record containing data on individuals that is private as
provided by Section 
63G-2-302
.
(20) "Protected record" means a record that is classified protected as provided by
Section 
63G-2-305
.
(21) "Public record" means a record that is not private, controlled, or protected and that
is not exempt from disclosure as provided in Subsection 
63G-2-201
(3)(b).
(22) (a) "Record" means a book, letter, document, paper, map, plan, photograph, film,
card, tape, recording, electronic data, or other documentary material regardless of physical form
or characteristics:
(i) that is prepared, owned, received, or retained by a governmental entity or political
subdivision; and
(ii) where all of the information in the original is reproducible by photocopy or other
mechanical or electronic means.
(b) "Record" does not mean:
(i) a personal note or personal communication prepared or received by an employee or
officer of a governmental entity:
(A) in a capacity other than the employee's or officer's governmental capacity; or
(B) that is unrelated to the conduct of the public's business;
(ii) a temporary draft or similar material prepared for the originator's personal use or
prepared by the originator for the personal use of an individual for whom the originator is
working;
(iii) material that is legally owned by an individual in the individual's private capacity;
(iv) material to which access is limited by the laws of copyright or patent unless the
copyright or patent is owned by a governmental entity or political subdivision;
(v) proprietary software;
(vi) junk mail or a commercial publication received by a governmental entity or an
official or employee of a governmental entity;
(vii) a book that is cataloged, indexed, or inventoried and contained in the collections
of a library open to the public;
(viii) material that is cataloged, indexed, or inventoried and contained in the collections
of a library open to the public, regardless of physical form or characteristics of the material;
(ix) a daily calendar or other personal note prepared by the originator for the
originator's personal use or for the personal use of an individual for whom the originator is
working;
(x) a computer program that is developed or purchased by or for any governmental
entity for its own use;
(xi) a note or internal memorandum prepared as part of the deliberative process by:
(A) a member of the judiciary;
(B) an administrative law judge;
(C) a member of the Board of Pardons and Parole; or
(D) a member of any other body, other than an association or appeals panel as defined
in Section 
53G-7-1101
, charged by law with performing a quasi-judicial function;
(xii) a telephone number or similar code used to access a mobile communication
device that is used by an employee or officer of a governmental entity, provided that the
employee or officer of the governmental entity has designated at least one business telephone
number that is a public record as provided in Section 
63G-2-301
;
(xiii) information provided by the Public Employees' Benefit and Insurance Program,
created in Section 
49-20-103
, to a county to enable the county to calculate the amount to be
paid to a health care provider under Subsection 
17-50-319
(2)(e)(ii);
(xiv) information that an owner of unimproved property provides to a local entity as
provided in Section 
11-42-205
;
(xv) a video or audio recording of an interview, or a transcript of the video or audio
recording, that is conducted at a Children's Justice Center established under Section 
67-5b-102
;
(xvi) child pornography, as defined by Section 
76-5b-103
; or
(xvii) before final disposition of an ethics complaint occurs, a video or audio recording
of the closed portion of a meeting or hearing of:
(A) a Senate or House Ethics Committee;
(B) the Independent Legislative Ethics Commission;
(C) the Independent Executive Branch Ethics Commission, created in Section
63A-14-202
; or
(D) the Political Subdivisions Ethics Review Commission established in Section
63A-15-201
.
(23) "Record series" means a group of records that may be treated as a unit for
purposes of designation, description, management, or disposition.
(24) "Records officer" means the individual appointed by the chief administrative
officer of each governmental entity, or the political subdivision to work with state archives in
the care, maintenance, scheduling, designation, classification, disposal, and preservation of
records.
(25) "Schedule," "scheduling," and their derivative forms mean the process of
specifying the length of time each record series should be retained by a governmental entity for
administrative, legal, fiscal, or historical purposes and when each record series should be
transferred to the state archives or destroyed.
(26) "Sponsored research" means research, training, and other sponsored activities as
defined by the federal Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget:
(a) conducted:
(i) by an institution within the state system of higher education defined in Section
53B-1-102
; and
(ii) through an office responsible for sponsored projects or programs; and
(b) funded or otherwise supported by an external:
(i) person that is not created or controlled by the institution within the state system of
higher education; or
(ii) federal, state, or local governmental entity.
(27) "State archives" means the Division of Archives and Records Service created in
Section 
63A-12-101
.
(28) "State archivist" means the director of the state archives.
(29) "State Records Committee" means the State Records Committee created in
Section 
63G-2-501
.
(30) "Summary data" means statistical records and compilations that contain data
derived from private, controlled, or protected information but that do not disclose private,
controlled, or protected information.