National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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Missouri Senate passes farm exemptions to open records laws

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Missouri's open records laws would not cover some farming data under a measure that has passed the Missouri Senate.

The legislation, which passed with a bipartisan majority of 25-6, would require state agencies to keep confidential the information farmers submit for voluntary agricultural programs, such as registration data for animal disease tracking programs. Anyone who improperly releases that information could be sued.

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Only 53 police agencies participating in national push for use of force statistics

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As part of the Obama administration’s push for improved policing in the wake of highly-publicized police shootings, the White House last year launched the Police Data Initiative and asked local law enforcement agencies to voluntarily provide, and publicly post, their statistics on use-of-force incidents and other interactions with citizens.

The idea was that greater transparency would lead to greater citizen confidence in the police, with more public support and fewer critical incidents.

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Dead men don’t tell tales; in South Carolina, neither do their blood tests

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When a coroner announced earlier this year that a USC Upstate student was drunk when he crashed and killed himself and three fellow student athletes, it felt like a little bit of sanity had been restored to our state’s public records law.

After all, Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger received an opinion from the attorney general blessing his release of the information. 

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Pennsylvania newspaper loses court fight to block state agencies from deleting emails

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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has lost its attempt to block state agencies from permanently deleting emails after five days.

The state Supreme Court on Monday upheld a Commonwealth Court decision from July that rejected the newspaper’s argument that emails should be retained.

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Editorial: Stall tactic on records release in Wisconsin must end

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During Sunshine Week in March when attention nationwide was focused on government transparency, Gov. Scott Walker issued an executive order calling on state agencies to "go above and beyond requirements of the Public Records Law and promote easier, fairer and broader access to public records."

The director of state courts hasn't gotten the message.

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Michigan Supreme Court won’t define ‘public official’ in Open Meetings Act

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The Michigan Supreme Court decided not to define a public official under Michigan's Open Meetings Act, with two justices dissenting, according to a court order.

In a lawsuit ongoing for more than two years that alleged violations of Michigan's Open Meetings Act by Oakley village clerk Cheryl Bolf, the Michigan Supreme Court heard arguments April 6 and denied the application, an April 25 order states, "because we are not persuaded that the question presented should be reviewed by this Court."

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South Carolina wrestles with transparency of lead in drinking water

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South Carolina’s water regulatory agency told the Environmental Protection Agency it has asked water systems to share more information with the public about lead sampling results and the location of lead service lines but that the state doesn’t have the information and utilities may not have it either.

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Editorial: Public needs access to body camera video to see how police work

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New Orleans police released their first two recordings from body cameras worn by officers in late March. One was from the Jan. 7, 2015, fatal police shooting of Omarr Jackson in Central City and the other was the April 28, 2015, shooting death of Jared Johnson in New Orleans East. 

Superintendent Michael Harrison said the videos showed that officers behaved properly and were justified in their actions.

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