The Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) provides every person the right to request records from any governmental entity in Utah (Utah Code Section 63G-2-201(1)). To obtain a paid copy of a police report, it must be requested from the local law enforcement office that drafted the report.
FAQ
To make a police report, call the University of Utah Police at 801-585-2677 and ask to speak with an officer. This request will create a call log, which will show the date, time, and nature of your complaint. After speaking with an officer, you will receive instructions on next steps.
To request a copy of a police report, fill out a Request for Records form.
As defined in Utah Code Ann. § 63G-2-103, public record means a record that is not private, controlled, or protected and is prepared, owned, received or retained by the governmental entity. Records requested must be able to be reproduced from the original record. A department is not required to create or format reports to meet a request.
Specifically GRAMA designates two law enforcement records to be public records:
- Chronological Logs, which give the general nature of the call, the date and time, and any arrests or jail bookings.
- Initial Contact Reports, which are reports prepared by peace officers engaged describing official actions initially taken in response to either a public complaint about or the discovery of an apparent violation of law.
Any person can make a public records request. However, public disclosure is regulated by several different statutes dependent upon the record. If you are the subject of the record, you may be entitled to information not available to the general public.
If you are a defendant in a criminal prosecution (have had criminal charges filed or have been issued a citation) you will be provided a full copy of the report through the prosecutor’s office as part of the discovery process.
The media is entitled to any record that is deemed to be a public record pursuant to Utah Code Ann. § 63G-2-301. A governmental entity has five (5) business days after receiving a written request to provide the record, deny the request, or notify the requester that it cannot immediately provide a response due to extraordinary circumstances.