NFOIC – Page 186 – National Freedom of Information Coalition

Money woes, political distractions in New Mexico kept ethics on the sidelines this session

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State legislators passed a budget, created a REAL-ID driver's license fix, cracked down on DWI and child porn and advanced bail reform. But did they do anything to reverse the tide of indicators that New Mexicans have lost faith in state government?

Guests on the KUNM Call In Show argued Thursday that lawmakers' achievements this session were limited by New Mexico’s budget crisis—and political distractions— making it difficult to focus on anything else.

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Washington lawmakers opt to pursue study of public records requests

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Cities, counties and school districts won't be getting the changes to Washington's public records act that they asked lawmakers to make this session.

This week it became clear that a House bill allowing local governments to limit the time spent processing public record requests and to prioritize handling of those requests would not be voted on.

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Why private-college police forces are a new front in the fight over public records

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In 2014, Paula Lavigne, a reporter for ESPN’s Outside the Lines program, began investigating college athletes and the justice system.

Lavigne wanted to know whether prominent athletes receive preferential treatment during criminal inquiries, and to that end, she requested incident reports involving football and basketball players over a five-year period from campus police departments at 10 universities.

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Fighting open records cost New Jersey $154K in taxpayer money last year

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New Jersey taxpayers last year were on the hook for nearly $154,000 to settle court cases in which Gov. Chris Christie's administration tried to stop records from being disclosed to the public.

Last year's payouts included instances in which the administration attempted to shield records on how Christie, whose presidential campaign ended Feb. 10, attempted to promote himself to a national audience, as well as costs related to his frequent out-of-state travel.

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Meet the woman fighting behind the scenes to defend open government in Florida

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Barbara Petersen has been fighting back efforts to make Florida’s government less transparent for more than 20 years. There haven’t been many battles more consequential than the one she’s waging right now.

Over the last few years, there have been reports about a handful of people or firms using the state’s strong public records law in gotcha-style stings, essentially to extract legal fees from unwitting violators. Predictably, that led to demands to change the law.

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Secrecy in Wyoming’s budget shortfall proposal

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A legislative proposal could ensure that the work of Wyoming’s influential revenue-estimating group can continue in secret and behind closed doors.

A bill passed by the Senate last week would exempt the Consensus Revenue Estimating Group – other than its final public reports – from the state’s public records and open meetings act. The group, more commonly known as CREG, issues annual and periodic reports projecting how much mineral taxes and other revenues the state can expect to take in during the coming years.

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Editorial: Colorado legislature deals a double blow to public access

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A state Senate committee this week decided that a non-profit may function as a surrogate government agency, with 85 to 95 percent of its funding consistently coming from public sources, and yet will not have to honor requests under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA).

A bill that would have subjected such entities to CORA was tabled under heavy fire.

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Editorial: It’s time to restore police transparency in California

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California has long led the nation in protecting public access to public information, with one glaring exception that took hold in the late 1970s: Police records have become increasingly off limits. The dubious rationale for blocking disclosure is that it is a private matter — and none of the public's business — when a police officer fires a weapon, is found to have lied during an investigation or is disciplined for misconduct.

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Virginia House panel kills police secrecy bill

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A Virginia bill that would have allowed the government to shield the names of police officers from the public was killed by a legislative committee Thursday after a fierce debate that pitted open records advocates against law enforcement groups.

The measure was introduced in response to a court ruling last year that directed the state to turn over the names and employment dates of thousands of law enforcement officials to The Virginian-Pilot, which is trying to determine whether officers who get fired are landing jobs at another agency.

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Maryland bills seek to boost government transparency, accountability

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Government transparency was the reoccurring theme this week at a Maryland House Health and Government Operations Committee hearing, as lawmakers pushed for the passage of multiple bills that would beef up requirements of the Open Meetings Act.

As it now stands, the Open Meetings Act requires local- and state-level public bodies to hold open sessions in a location that is accessible to attendees, provide the public adequate notice of those sessions, and allow them to view the respective meeting minutes.

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Author: NFOIC

Posts by NFOIC

Money woes, political distractions in New Mexico kept ethics on the sidelines this session

Washington lawmakers opt to pursue study of public records requests

Why private-college police forces are a new front in the fight over public records

Fighting open records cost New Jersey $154K in taxpayer money last year

Meet the woman fighting behind the scenes to defend open government in Florida

Secrecy in Wyoming’s budget shortfall proposal

Editorial: Colorado legislature deals a double blow to public access

Editorial: It’s time to restore police transparency in California

Virginia House panel kills police secrecy bill

Maryland bills seek to boost government transparency, accountability