Administrative Codes and Registers Section of NASS Honors the Utah Office of Administrative Rules as the 2023 Robert J. Colborn, Jr. Innovation Award Winner
Review the 2023 Colborn Award Application
Presentation Materials: 2023 Colborn Award Presentation
Members from Utah’s Office of Administrative Rules – Names from the left: Jill Ledbetter – ACR Vice-President presenting award, Sunnie Burningham – Publications/Code Editor, Michael G. Broschinsky – Director, Kylie Cone – Senior Business Analyst
Brody Mangum – Public Outreach Coordinator
The Administrative Codes and Registers (ACR) Section of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) awarded the Utah Office of Administrative Rules the 2023 Robert J. Colborn, Jr. Innovation Award at the association’s annual conference for their work developing a prefiling system for the state’s Administrative Codes and Registers.
Utah Executive Order 2021-12 required the Utah Office of Administrative Rules (hereafter referred to as “Office”) to review rules for adherence to the Rulewriting Manual of Utah. The challenge was how to do this without increasing turnaround times or introducing delays into the rulemaking process. To address this, the Office introduced a new program that would occur before a rule draft is formally filed. By allowing agencies that write administrative rules to submit a draft for a style and formatting review before filing, the Office was hoping that rulewriters would be more receptive to suggested additional changes. This program, introduced officially as “prefiling,” would help the Office abide by Executive Order 2021-12 without disrupting formal filings, Utah State Bulletin publications, or other time-sensitive duties.
Prefiling is an optional program in which rulewriting agencies may send drafts of their rule text and required forms to the Office for a style and formatting review before it is formally filed. This review is similar in scope to the Office’s formal filing review, as it is designed to identify and resolve issues before the formal filing. As prefiling would always remain an optional step, the Office wanted to increase the chances of utilization by making submission enticing and simple for rulewriting agencies. This resulted in the Office relying on email to receive submissions from agencies while integrating new software for the Office that would increase efficiency.
The Office saw several benefits from introducing prefiling. For the agency, they could formally submit their filings with more confidence that large issues had been addressed before submission. This meant it was more likely their filings would sail through the process without rejection. Even if there were additional changes needed to the filing after submission, the agency could be assured the issues would be minor and quick to fix.
The Office also benefits from less filing rejections and quicker turnaround time as this preserves the Office’s relationship with rulewriters and prevents the Office from pushing against deadlines while still requiring changes. In addition to these procedural benefits, the Office also introduced several new tools that increased efficiency in prefilings as well as in other Office tasks.
Citizen benefits – The prefiling review’s portion in the process provides for a more consistent reading experience throughout the entirety of the administrative code, standardizing both style and language. Prefilings continue to provide learning opportunities for the Office and present numerous benefits to the Office, other rulemaking agencies, and the public.
Executive branch agency benefits – Utah’s Office of Administrative Rules has not been the only government entity to benefit from the prefiling process. Other agencies that do rulemaking are provided an easy and direct line of contact while drafting. The flexibility built into the prefiling process means that feedback can be as frequent and as specific as desired by the agency, and the informal nature invites a level of agency/Office conversation that is less prevalent during the deadline-oriented formal filings.
Because of these homegrown, flexible, and widely adaptable innovative features, the ACR Awards Committee has selected the Utah Office of Administrative Rules as this year’s Colborn Award recipient for their work to develop a prefiling system for the state’s administrative rulemakings.
2023 ACR Awards Committee – Robert J. Colborn Jr. Innovation Award:
Awards Chair: Trinette Middlebrook
Administrative Rules Specialist
State of Idaho, Department of Health and Welfare, Administrative Rules Unit (ARU)
Awards Committee Member: Frank Powell
Administrative Rules Specialist
State of Idaho, Department of Health and Welfare, Administrative Rules Unit (ARU)
Awards Committee Member: Jack Ewing
Administrative Code Editor, Senior Legal Counsel
State of Iowa, Legislative Services Agency