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.