Arizona Open Meetings Act
The Arizona Open Meetings Act states that it is the public policy of Arizona that meetings of public bodies be conducted openly and that notices and agendas be provided for these meetings which contain such information as is reasonably necessary to inform the public of the matters to be discussed or decided.
If the Arizona Open Meetings Act is violated, any person affected by the alleged violation may commence a suit in the county superior court in order to require compliance with this act. If the court decides that the violation was in an effort to evade the public or to purposefully withhold information from the public, the court may remove that person from office.
Open Meetings Act A.R.S. §38-431 et seq.
Closed: Salary, discipline, negotiations; planning; and legal consultation.
Arizona Public Records Law
The Arizona Public Records Law has been in existence for more than 100 years and mandates that all public records be open to inspection by any person at all times during office hours. Public records include books, papers, maps, photographs or other documentary materials. Lake v. City of Phoenix recently established that digital meta-data, attached to files stored in any electronic form are considered part of that document and are thus subject to open records requests.
The Arizona Public Records Law does have some exceptions which include: student records, research records, donor information, or if the release of a record would constitute an invasion of personal privacy and that invasion outweighs the public’s right to know, of if the disclosure of a record is detrimental to the best interests of the state. Arizona law also requires individuals who are making a FOIA request for commercial purposes to state those purposes.
Public Records Law §39-121 et seq.
Exempt: Adoption records; disciplinary records of some professional groups; some medical records; some corrections department records; bank records; and trade secrets.
Visit, Arizona Sample FOIA Request, to view a sample FOIA request for the state.