From Kansas City.com:
WASHINGTON — A former official in Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell's administration says the governor's office sees text messages as a way to communicate about sensitive issues while avoiding public disclosure through the state's open records law.
Parnell's aides deny that is their intent. But it's clear text messages sent by state officials on state cellphones represent a big loophole in Alaska's open records law, under which texts appear to fall under the same disclosure rules as emails and paper documents.
The governor's spokeswoman says texts are not saved and the public has no right to see them, even as Parnell officials text while his administration takes on controversial issues like trying to slash taxes on the oil companies by billions of dollars.