The Utah State Records Committee voted 4-1 Friday to open the records containing addresses of hunting- and fishing-license holders to a man trying to gain members for a new organization.
The committee overturned a Division of Wildlife Resources' ruling that closed the records. The division argued that the addresses should not be released to Randy Nielsen because of privacy.Nielsen had attempted to obtain the addresses to organize a group of license holders to focus on issues regarding DWR policies. He said that the division conducted its own mailings of information in conjunction with other wildlife groups but would not allow him to make mailings.
DWR officials told Nielsen they would give him the names, cities, states and zip codes of license holders, but would not release street addresses.
The division argued that a Dan Jones and Associates poll showed that a clear majority of licenseholders didn't want their addresses released to companies or individuals.
Rep. Marty Stevens, R-Farr West, sponsor of Utah's records law, told the State Records Committee that the DWR policy was discriminatory and thwarted the ability of people to participate in the public process regarding DWR policy.
He also disputed the poll results, saying that if the survey question had been presented in another way it might have yielded totally different results.
Other groups, including Common Cause and Society of Professional Journalists, argued that DWR's reasons for withholding the addresses was based on federal case law relating to the Freedom of Information Act.
They said the case law surrounding the federal statute was wrongfully applied to the state's new record law, the Government Records Access and Management Act.