Blogers tend to come in all shapes and sizes and of all political stripes; some liberal, some conservative, some write about politics, others their family. One of the few things I can find as a common trait is that they have a passion for the free and open exchange of information and ideas – not big fans of being shut out of any particular process. Well it is unfortunate that Representative Douglas Aagard (R – Kaysville, District 15) does not share the same passion for openness.

H.B. 118 is a bill that, on the surface, does not look all that bad. I mean all it really does is state that no person (as opposed to government agency or municipality) is allowed to destroy government documents. If someone does do so, it is a class B misdemeanor.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I think someone who intentionally destroys government documents to cover their own butt should have some criminal penalty – however by shifting the punishment on to the individual, government agencies on the whole are more than free to destroy anything they want…just so long as they can find a fall guy in the office when the media and police come knocking. In the mean time government directors just hire someone else who is ignorant of this law and the cycle of destroying documents that are rightly the public’s continues unfettered.

In fact, the only thing I do like about this bill is that it lays down penalties in the first place for destroying documents. But by taking the responsibility off of the agency, we are effectively making public access to our records more difficult.