SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A public records board says Utah sheriffs had the right to keep voluntary standards and inspection reports for the state’s county jails secret, even though some of the guidelines have already been released.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the state records committee has decided that the reports were never the county’s to make public, since they were written and copyrighted by consultant Gary DeLand.
The operating standards were published online this year, after calls for transparency following deaths in Utah jails.
But inspection reports about how jails were living up to those standards remain secret.
Board chairman David Fleming says it might ultimately be up to a state court to make a decision about those internal audits.
The guidelines cover roughly 600 provisions regarding medical care and treatment of inmates.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
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