If you wander around the Washington state Capitol this year, you’ll see fresh messages posted outside many legislators’ offices. “No paper, please,” read some of the new flyers. “We are going paperless!” proclaim others. The key reason isn’t environmental (though some lawmakers say that’s a factor, too). Rather, the shift is mainly a result of a […]
As the Colorado Press Association prepared to meet Jan. 17, a Colorado judicial branch committee had a scheduled — ironically closed-door — meeting to consider a new rule on the sealing of criminal court records. According to Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition Executive Director Jeffrey A. Roberts’ analysis of the draft, the Rules of Criminal […]
Read More… from News Analysis: Journalists need advocates, too
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo — The mother of the man shot and killed while he was walking home from the Dry Creek light rail station more than a decade ago said he was targeted by the perpetrators in part because he stopped to buy sandwiches for people experiencing homelessness. That’s the kind of man the people […]
Read More… from Man sentenced to 20 years for role in 2009 murder of CU grad student
A set of proposed disciplinary guidelines for the South Bend Police Department has support from some community activists and the local police union in part because they say the punishment for violations by officers has sometimes seemed arbitrary or inconsistent over the years. Members of the group Faith in Indiana have pointed to cases in […]
Read More… from South Bend lacks data, records on police discipline as it considers new guidelines
When I talk with citizen groups in Tennessee about open government, people tell me they want more information about what their government is doing, not less. An informed citizenry results in better and more accountable government. But in plain language, people just want to know what’s going on, particularly when it affects their lives directly. […]
Read More… from Newspapers continue to play a vital role in public notice | Opinion
A clash over the public’s right to see how Virginia courts are run is sparking a challenge to one of the basics of American politics: the checks and balances of the three branches of government. Legislators from both parties, upset by the Virginia Supreme Court’s declaration last year that the state Freedom of Information Act […]
The Washington state Legislature re-convened this week as a full government body, starting off the 2020 legislative session. The Reflector sent out a list of questions to local lawmakers to get an idea of what their goals are and how they plan to address locally-pertinent issues. (Read more here…) […]
The Loveland Police Department quietly encrypted its radio traffic in October, the latest in a growing trend of law enforcement agencies in the region making their scanners inaccessible to the public. The department did not notify the public or the media that it encrypted scanner traffic. Jan Burreson, a spokesperson for the department, said that […]
Read More… from Loveland police quietly encrypt radio traffic, following regional trend
For Immediate Release Contact: Daniel Bevarly Executive Director, NFOIC dbevarly@nfoic.org 352-294-7082 NFOIC reveals pilot project results looking at 2019 state transparency bills nationwide The National Freedom of Information Coalition is pleased to announce the publication of its latest research, “Legislating Open Government: The Prevalence of Transparency-Related Language in 2019 State Legislative Bills.” The report is […]
Read More… from News Release – NFOIC study looks at 2019 state transparency bills
There are people in general — and politicians and bureaucrats in specific — who think the Sunshine and Open Records laws don’t apply to them. We would like to think it is just a lack of education, that perhaps they are just erring on the side of not being sure what is for public consumption […]
