Transparent Utah is a site that can show you everything from the highest paid salaries of government officials to how different government agencies are spending taxpayer dollars. You can explore per-student spending patterns across the state, analyze property assessments across the state and compare costs for common healthcare procedures in your community. It’s an incredible...
The following was written by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with Utah News Dispatch. Utah lawmakers are not only trying to close off your access to records about how the government does (or doesn’t) work — they want you to pay the bill for it. Two bills are taking direct aim at the...
The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with Utah News Dispatch. State officials are required to disclose if their “immediate family” are involved in businesses that could receive public funding. Recently obtained records, however, show that some heads of state agencies have interpreted the disclosure rules to mean they...
The following story was reported by the Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with KSL.com. SALT LAKE CITY — The people who run Utah’s state agencies are required to disclose possible conflicts of interest. But the governor’s office apparently doesn’t think the public has the right to know what those are. In a highly unusual...
Want to get involved in your community but don’t know where to start? Start by showing up! There are public meetings all over the state from city council meetings and zoning boards to legislative hearings and more. Join us for a free webinar on Sept. 19 from 12-1 pm to learn how to find meetings...
The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with KSL.com SALT LAKE CITY — For the past decade, Drew Mingl helped build Utah’s Open Data Catalog into a model of transparency for state governments across the country. The data portal posted thousands of datasets online in useful formats for all...
By Sara Tabin The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with The Spectrum & Daily News and the Salt Lake City Weekly. The past couple years have been rife with existential threats for Utahns—earthquakes, wildfires, supply chain shortages—not to mention multiple waves of coronavirus surges. It’s been enough...
The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with The Salt Lake Tribune. A criminal investigation that stretched from fall 2017 to May 2018 scrutinizing allegations that former Weber County Commissioner Kerry Gibson had misused government resources for his own benefit ultimately yielded no charges. Investigators looked at whether Gibson...
The following story was written and reported by Taylor Hartman of The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with Utah Stories. On December 3, 2019, in a crowded room in the Salt Lake City and County Building, the Save The Utah Theater group waited for a vote that would decide the fate of the historic Utah Theatre...
The following story was written and researched by Cathy McKitrick of The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with The Salt Lake Tribune. During Kerry Gibson’s nine months as commissioner over Utah’s Department of Agriculture and Food, staff shake-ups took a toll on morale, travel spending went up and financial audits flagged a spike in...