Changes could be on horizon for Pa.'s records law

The five-page Right-to-Know Law request that arrived in March at the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare was so broad that officials worried how much it would cost to fulfill it.

A Philadelphia lawyer was looking for information about prescription drug reimbursements in the state Medicaid program going back 18 years.

The agency figured it would take a team of 11 people a year to dig it all up.

"That's not the whole commonwealth work force, but that's a lot," said Barbara Adams, general counsel to Gov. Ed Rendell. "And a whole year is beyond the time frames that are permitted."

The lawyer, Stephen A. Loney Jr., later withdrew that request, and isn't commenting about it or the legal battle over a more narrow version he later filed. But Adams said his requests reflect some of the many issues that have arisen during the first year under Pennsylvania's revised Right-to-Know Law, which may soon be amended.

Should taxpayers have to foot a part of the cost of massive requests? How does the law work when the records are also integral to an ongoing lawsuit? Should the government be able to cancel a request it deems to be a practical impossibility?

Read more here

Judicial email not public in West Virginia

Personal e-mail messages on government accounts are not public records, even when they are between a judge and a party to a pending case, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled Nov. 12.

In the 4-1 ruling, the court held that former Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard could keep private all of the 13 messages he exchanged with Massey Energy Chief Executive Don Blankenship last year. At that time, Massey Energy — one of the largest coal producers in Appalachia — had several cases pending before the court, including the appeal of a $50 million jury verdict.

The Associated Press was initially denied access to the messages under West Virginia's public records law but won release of at least five of the messages when a lower court ruled they were public records because they dealt with Maynard’s judicial campaign. Last week's ruling put all of the messages out of the public's reach.

Read more here

Court rules NCAA documents in FSU academic-fraud investigation are public records

TALLAHASSEE - A Leon County judge ordered today that NCAA documents related to an academic-fraud investigation at Florida State University are public records, a major victory for press groups that pushed for the release of the information.

At issue are the transcript of an October 2008 hearing in Indianapolis, attended by FSU President T.K. Wetherell, in which FSU and NCAA officials discussed the case involving 61 student-athletes who cheated, many in an online music class. The transcripts are expected to be 300 to 350 pages long, according to lawyers representing news organizations including the Orlando Sentinel and The Associated Press.

Read more here.

Public Records? Who Says So?

Getting everyone to sing from the same sheet of music is a pesky business, it doesn’t matter if it is a small family, a community, or an entire state. Obviously the more people involved, the more difficult the task.

The task is made more arduous when we are dealing with laws, because few of us have law degrees. It is worth a moment of our time to understand the basics of a new law recently passed in New Jersey, because this law deals with a fundamental issue currently coming into question in our democracy: Who is in charge, the citizens, or the people who run government?

Obviously, we know from our history books, the power resides with the citizens, but nothing stays the same, and things not exercised wither away. One of the things withering away is the understanding, both on the part of citizens and public officials alike that public records are in fact “public” records, and with rare exception are open to anybody who wishes to see them for any reason, stated or unstated.

Read more here.

Once a Public Record, Always a Public Record... Or Not

State legislators have a longtime practice of going back and expunging controversial votes.

If state legislators hope one day to rebuild the public's shaken confidence in their institution, they could start by ending their practice of erasing controversial votes from the public record.

Read more here.

Attorneys join Wisconsin Rapids teachers' e-mail legal battle

Four attorneys who represent employees from two of the state's largest cities have become involved in a Wisconsin Rapids School District lawsuit involving teacher e-mails.

Lawyers from Milwaukee and Madison have sided with the five Wisconsin Rapids teachers who are arguing that personal e-mails from their work computers are not public records that should be open to scrutiny.

Read more here.

FSU Sues NCAA

The battle between Florida State and the NCAA will now enter a courtroom, as FSU announced Friday it is taking legal action to force the NCAA to release the public records associated with FSU's ongoing appeal.

Read more here.

Public Record Request Denied? Don't Give Up!

When the answer to your public records request is no, what do you do next?

Several readers who requested information that should be public have written to say their requests were denied. That happens more frequently than you might suspect.

Read the full story here.

White House Blocks Visitor Log Request

The Obama administration is fighting to block access to names of visitors to the White House, taking up the Bush administration argument that a president doesn't have to reveal who comes calling to influence policy decisions.

Despite President Barack Obama's pledge to introduce a new era of transparency to Washington, and despite two rulings by a federal judge that the records are public, the Secret Service has denied msnbc.com's request for the names of all White House visitors from Jan. 20 to the present. It also denied a narrower request by the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which sought logs of visits by executives of coal companies.

Read more here.

Want to know if Gov. Bill Richardson met with the son of a friend and prominent fundraiser before the state decided to invest in a fund that ultimately cost New Mexico $90 million?

Good luck.

The Independent sought to view documents from the governor’s office from January through August 2006 that would have divulged with whom he had met in the months prior to the costly investment that benefitted the son of the governor’s friend to the tune of millions of dollars.

Read more here.

Court to Decide if Court Records are Public Records

Two cases argued today before the Supreme Court of Washington present a significant question about public access to court records and could result in a major expansion of the state’s Public Records Act (chap. 42.56 RCW). The cases are Morgan v. Federal Way & Tacoma News, Inc., No. 81556-9 & Koenig v. Federal Way, No. 82288-3.

Read more here.

Public Records Fight Cost Schoold District $44,560

The Polk County School District spent about $44,560 in a fight against a Lakeland public rights advocate.

Nearly $20,000 has been paid to Bartow law firm Boswell & Dunlap for its work in the case, while the district paid $25,000 to advocate Joel Chandler for his lawyer's fees after Circuit Judge Roger Alcott ruled in Chandler's favor for the access to names, phone numbers, addresses and dependents' names of an estimated 13,000 school employees who receive health care.

Read more here.

Do Text Messages Count as Public Records?

Most people would agree that “texting” while driving is a bad idea. But what about “texting” while meeting?

While the technology allowing people to communicate instantly has become common in public places, its use in public meetings is testing the laws on open government.

Read more here.

NOLA Clerks Turn To Internet to Boost Public Records Revenue

Faced with a slumping real estate market, more Louisiana clerks of court are moving public records to the Internet, both as a convenience and a way to shore up their bottom lines.

"It's expensive to do, but I'm hoping it generates a little revenue," said St. Charles Parish Clerk Charles Oubre, who plans to have court records online by September.

Parish clerks' offices are financed entirely by fees levied on legal transactions such as civil suits and real estate transfers. Many clerks have had to dip into surpluses to continue operating.

Read more here.

Sherrif's Request for Public Records to Cost Taxpayers $1 M.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio is spending close to $1 million in taxpayer money on what some say are calling a political witch hunt, according to Maricopa County’s Litigation Director.

“What we've heard from people is that they think it's about intimidation, they think it's just harassment, they think it's a fishing expedition,” Wade Swanson said.

The sheriff submitted a public records request Jan. 30 asking for every e-mail, calendar and phone record for 36 county employees.

The county budget office estimates gathering and reviewing the approximately 500,000 documents will cost taxpayers $911,157.

The county is legally obligated to fulfill the request.

Read more here.

NC Bill Would Allow Judges to Award Attorney Fees in Public Records Cases

Four state House members have introduced a bill which would require judges to award attorneys fees to plaintiffs who prevail in many public records cases.

The bill, sponsored by Reps. Deborah Ross, D-Wake, William Wainwright, D-Craven, Winkie Wilkins, D-Person, and Margaret Dickson, D-Cumberland, would also set up an open government unit within the attorney general's office to educate the public and government agencies of their rights and responsibilities under the state's public records and open meetings laws.

In some respects, the bill is similar to others that have been introduced in the House this year and one that was introduced by Sen. David Hoyle, D-Gaston, during the last session of the General Assembly.

It differs, however, in that it would carve out specific exceptions under which a judge would not award attorneys fees.

Read more here.

Court to Decide if Ohio School Tests are Public Records

Forget about "cheat sheets" or copying answers from the kid in the next desk.

If a group of Cincinnati school teachers prevails in a case now before the Ohio Supreme Court, enterprising students might be able to ace their tests simply by using the state's public-records law to get a copy of the test before it's given.

So contends the Cincinnati Public Schools, which is fighting the teachers' demands for copies of semester exams given to ninth graders.

The science teacher who brought the case, Paul Perrea, contends that the semester exams -- which account for 25 percent of a student's grade -- might have been poorly designed and might not reflect a student's actual learning.

Without getting a copy of the test, however, it's impossible to be sure, Perrea argues.

Read more here.

Records won’t go online, Terrebonne president says

Plans to compile government records for public viewing in a computer system rather than paper files won’t include putting those documents on the Internet, at least for now, Terrebonne Parish officials said.

But a statewide good-government group says making records available on the parish Web site, www.tpcg.org, should be a priority.

The reality is that citizens still have to drive or walk to the government’s headquarters to view the documents, said Ann Heath, staff attorney and research analyst at the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, or PAR.

Read more here.

Sudbury Resident Hopes to Find Out Why Public Safety Overtime Costs Are So High

Andrew MacEntee wants to analyze public safety payroll records to determine if there is abuse in the system, but his request for the public documents took more than two months for the town to release.

The Massachusetts Public Records Law says such requests shall be honored within 10 calendar days.

MacEntee, who sent several requests to town officials and copied all e-mails to the Town Crier, was recently informed he will get the Police and Fire Department payroll records for calendar year 2008.

MacEntee wants to analyze why public safety overtime is so high, similar to information the Boston Herald published.

Read more here.

Bill to Limit Inmates' Access to Records Passes House

The state's more than 18,000 prison inmates may soon be limited in the types of records they can obtain under the Public Records Act.

This morning, the House passed a Senate Bill 5130 with a vote of 94-2. Supporters say the bill will save corrections officers from inmates obtaining personal information about them.

The bill will go back to the Senate for approval of amendments that one Department of Corrections employee characterized as minor.

"This bill is about justice for our correctional officers," said Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, D-Seattle.

Under the bill, a court could block an inmate from requesting certain records if a judge finds that the request is intended to harass an agency or its employees, or that fulfilling the request would threaten security or assist in criminal activity.

Read more here.

Lawmakers Move to Carve Out Public Records Exemption for Teachers

A bill designed to protect teachers would exempt a school employees' name, photograph and other personal information from public records requirements.

“My concern is I don't want to wait until a child (gets a failing grade) … and a child goes ballistic or a parent goes ballistic and something impacts (a teacher) negatively,” said bill sponsor Rep. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville.

The measure (HB 409) would exempt a school district employee’s name, social security number, home address, employment status, home telephone number, and photograph from the list of records that must be made public. It would also specifically exempt any information about the employee’s children.

Read more here.

Lawmakers Move to Carve Out Public Records Exemption for Teachers

A bill designed to protect teachers would exempt a school employees' name, photograph and other personal information from public records requirements.

“My concern is I don't want to wait until a child (gets a failing grade) … and a child goes ballistic or a parent goes ballistic and something impacts (a teacher) negatively,” said bill sponsor Rep. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville.

The measure (HB 409) would exempt a school district employee’s name, social security number, home address, employment status, home telephone number, and photograph from the list of records that must be made public. It would also specifically exempt any information about the employee’s children.

Read more here.

AL Sherrifs Risk Being Sued After Violating Public Records Act

Alabama sheriffs need to respond to a request for documents on jail food allowances or risk being sued for violating the state's public-records law.

The case of county sheriffs and the money they pocket after feeding inmates just keeps getting curiouser and curiouser.

Last week, The Decatur Daily reported on a letter stamped "confidential" from Bobby Timmons, executive director of the Alabama Sheriffs Association, to county sheriffs around the state. Sheriffs had received a letter dated Jan. 29 from the Southern Center for Human Rights asking them for public records that would show how much money sheriffs had received in food allowances, how much they had spent feeding prisoners and how much they had left over for the years 2004 through 2008.

Read more here.

Oregon Lawmakers Move to Close Gun Records

Sheriffs around Oregon have been sending an unusual letter to holders of concealed weapons permits with this message: If you don't want the public to know you've got a permit, we'll try to help you out.

The letter from the sheriffs says newspapers and others are trying to get lists of people who have concealed handgun permits, sparking a legal challenge that's pending in the Oregon Court of Appeals.

And as the appeals court mulls the issue, Oregon lawmakers are pursuing legislation to take those records completely out of public view by prohibiting their release under the Oregon public records law.

Read more at AP News.

Do Public Records Disclose Too Much?

If you want to know the names of people in Tennessee who have permits to carry concealed weapons ... or the folks who contributed their money in support of California's ballot measure to ban gay marriage ... the answers are just a few keystrokes away.

And that's too close for comfort, some privacy law experts say.

To some, it's all about the public's right to know. But for others, it's too much information. Transparency, they say, can lead to intimidation, harassment and even death threats.

Increased listing of public information by political activists and media organizations has led some to question whether posting data made public through state campaign finance disclosure laws and other methods exceeds the public's right to know.

Read more at FoxNews.com

Florida Lawyers Not Happy About Email Address As Public Records

Gathered in a gray Miami conference room, a handful of lawyers sitting in front of laptops fumed about being betrayed.

The Florida Bar had sold them out -- hawking their e-mail addresses to third parties who filled their inboxes with unsolicited marketing posts they consider spam. At the Bar's midyear meeting, they debated what could be done.

"The Bar has taken the position that these are public records," said Ury Fischer, a Lott & Friedland shareholder in Coral Gables who has written The Bar repeatedly about the issue. An intellectual property lawyer with a degree in engineering, Fischer wrote The Bar last month to complain about what in his view was an invitation for abuse by marketers.

Read more at Law.com

Public Records Persistence Nets Seattle Man $1 Million Settlement

f you go back 10 years, you see how little Armen Yousoufian was asking for: some papers. He wanted to make sure that King County officials were being honest about their deal-making for a new "$300 million" Seattle football stadium (the true price tag ended up closer to $1 billion with interest and other taxpayer costs). Yousoufian, a hotel owner in the University District, was worried about the impact of a hotel-motel tax to fund the stadium for billionaire Paul Allen. So he made a public records request to see internal documents and splash a bit of sunshine into the county's back rooms.

How does this lead to $1 million? Find out at the Seattle Weekly.

Pennsylvania Court Says Autopsy Records are Public

In a significant public records victory for two state newspapers, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Thursday that autopsy records should be available to the public.

Reversing a lower court decision, the high court found that autopsy reports are indeed official records or papers subject to disclosure, though trial courts still have judicial discretion over the material in some cases.

The Morning Call of Allentown and The Express-Times of Easton both sued Lehigh County coroner Scott Grim after he refused to disclose the autopsy reports for a slain Easton police officer, whose death was ruled a homicide, according to court records.

Read more at RCFP.org.

Openness a Matter of Attitude, Not Just Law

President Barack Obama quickly got about the business of "change" last week, including telling officials he wanted a change in attitude when it comes to open government

Obama instructed federal agencies to be more responsive to the public when it comes to the Freedom of Information Act..

"In the face of doubt, openness prevails," Obama said in a memo. "The government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears. Nondisclosure should never be based on an effort to protect the personal interests of government officials."

Read more at the Clarion Ledger.

Find Sellers in Public Records

Some of the best deals to be had for the buyer of apartment building can be had by ignoring real estate listings and going directly to the source. However, locating and making contact with apartment building owners actually takes some work. The work is not hard or time-consuming if you know where and how to find the information.

In every U.S. municipality you will find a tax assessor’s office. In the tax assessor’s office you will find a list called the tax roll which itemizes every real estate property in that municipality. These are public records, so don’t worry about breaking the law or invading people’s privacy. These records identify the mailing address of the property owner, his or her name, the name of the lender and description of the real estate along with an assessed value.

Read more at BiggerPockets.com.

Find Public Records online at PublicRecordsWire.com

Suggested Changes to Washington Public Records Act

Sen. Darlene Fairley says she wants to end the state's Sunshine Committee, dedicated to reviewing what information the government can keep secret, because the results weren't worth the effort.

The committee, created in 2007, has recommended changes to 12 exemptions to the Public Records Act, which has been changed to keep more than 300 kinds of documents out of public view.

"We're spending, by my count, 700 hours of staff time … it added up to almost $100,000," said Fairley, a Lake Forest Park Democrat. "You're not giving me one public-disclosure exemption that you can say, 'Get rid of this.' … Come on, folks. We're not here to waste money. We're here to do something."

Read more at The Olympian.

County Council Takes Action on Public Records Policy

On Monday, the City Council passed a resolution establishing a written public records policy for the city.

“We needed one so that everyone would know what we require,” said City Clerk Lisa Hanks. “The resolution was because we don’t currently have a written policy.”

Early last year, Mayor Tim Kant verbally changed the existing written policy following newspaper articles describing the difficulty and high cost of obtaining some city and police department records.

Read the rest of the story at BaldwinCountyNOW.com

Defendant's Effort to Alter Court Date Leads to Jail

Nathan Devine had gotten nabbed and was looking to buy some time.

After being ticketed for reckless driving in February, he needed to raise money for fines and attend traffic school before his court date, his attorney said. But rather than ask the judge or a lawyer to change the court date, as required, Devine, of Manassas Park, thought of an easier way: He could have a friend who worked in the courthouse change it for him.

Devine -- along with his friend, Maria Merlos, a former Prince William County General District Court clerk's office employee -- was nabbed again.

Find out what happens in the Washington Post.

Judge OKs Legal Settlement for MO Governor's E-mails

A judge approved a legal settlement Monday that requires outgoing Gov. Matt Blunt to give thousands of e-mails to investigators but leaves unresolved the question of whether Blunt’s office violated public records laws.

A bipartisan pair of court-appointed assistant attorneys general said they believe Blunt’s office broke Missouri law by deleting e-mails that should have been saved as public records.

“Clearly, based upon the evidence that was presented, there were violations” of the document-retention and public-records laws, one of those attorneys, former Democratic Lt. Gov. Joe Maxwell, said after a court hearing.

Read more at The Joplin Globe.