Public records requests have surged in recent years, thanks in large part to the transparency and open data movements.
The U.S. Public Interest Research Group, which has been evaluating transparency in state spending for six years, reported that 2015 saw dramatic improvements in how and how much information was provided online. The same goes for cities, where the number of open data sets accessible to the public has climbed since the Open Knowledge Foundation began tracking them in 2013.
But not everyone is riding the transparency wave, especially when it comes to the handling of public records requests.
Take Massachusetts. In many ways, the state is a leader in transparency and open data efforts, but when it comes to its public records law, it’s another story. Continue…
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