National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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Orlando Police to make sexual assault, other crime data public

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The Orlando Police Department plans to launch an open data portal in March that will detail the race, sex and age of sexual offenders as well as where and when sexual offenses have taken place in the city.

The website will feature location-specific maps, graphs, and detailed spreadsheets.

The police department is the only agency in Florida and just one of thirty agencies in the country planning to release such data as part of a White House Program called the Police Data Initiative. 

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Michigan bill seeks new FOIA exemptions for energy infrastructure, cybersecurity

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The Flint water crisis loomed large over a hearing Tuesday on a state bill that would provide an exemption from Freedom of Information Act laws for some public documents surrounding cybersecurity and energy infrastructure in Michigan.

“We’re trying to strike a balance here to protect against people with evil intent,” said the bill’s sponsor state Rep. Kurt Heise, R-Plymouth.

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Oregon Legislature to adopt transparency rules in 2016

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The Oregon Legislature is set to adopt new rules that will make it easier to see how legislation is created and how the state does business.

Senate and House leaders expressed bipartisan support for the changes Tuesday during an annual meeting with press before the legislative session starts Feb. 1.

A major change in the rules is that anonymous amendments to bills will no longer be allowed. Legislators will have their names attached to amendments, and there will be an option to note if a lobbyist sponsored the amendment.

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FOIA experts: Newport News $2M payment without public vote may have violated law

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In Virginia, the Newport News City Council never took a public vote to authorize a $2 million settlement to a man in a recent wrongful conviction case — a common practice for local officials resolving lawsuits against the city that Freedom of Information Act experts say may violate state law.

The council authorized the city attorney to negotiate up to a certain undisclosed amount of money to settle the lawsuit in a closed session last year, but never took a public vote, City Attorney Collins L. Owens Jr. said.

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Advocates decry Florida bill ending automatic fees for public records violations

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Local government leaders in Florida are battling with open-government advocates over legislation that would leave it up to a judge to award attorney’s fees in public-records cases.

The bill (SB 1220) passed through a Senate panel Tuesday by a unanimous 3-0 vote, and the House version of the bill (HB 1021) won a committee’s approval on Monday.

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Study recommends more police transparency in Georgia

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A Georgia public interest law center is looking for ways to improve relations between police and the communities they serve as well as drive down the number of incidents involving police officers' use of force.

The Georgia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice is making recommendations that its leaders hope could start becoming law as early as this year.

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Vermont towns seek changes to open government laws

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The group that represents Vermont towns and cities would like to loosen the government’s public records and open meeting laws — but make nonprofit organizations subject to the same transparency requirements as the government.

The group envisions several changes to transparency laws in its 2016 Municipal Policy, the document that guides the group’s lobbying at the Statehouse this year.

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North Dakota State’s fundraising arm violated open records law, AG says

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Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem says the fundraising arm of North Dakota State University violated the state’s open records law.

Stenehjem said in a written opinion issued Monday that the North Dakota State University Development Foundation and Alumni Association violated state law when it refused to release the applications for people seeking to become its next president and CEO.

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Colorado lawmaker set to push bill for more access to judicial branch records

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A Colorado state lawmaker is set to bring forward a bill that would block the courts from denying open records requests.

Watchdog.org obtained a draft of the bill by state Rep. Polly Lawrence, R-Roxborough Park, which would allow court rules to apply only to open records matters not directly covered by the Colorado Open Records Act.

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Chicago Mayor Emanuel releases texts for first time amid scrutiny

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For the first time, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has released text messages that show him conducting official business on a city-issued cellphone, a move that comes as he faces sharp scrutiny on what information he makes public after fighting for months to keep the Laquan McDonald police shooting video under wraps.

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