National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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Texas website allows public access to details of officer-involved shootings

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A new Texas website allows the public to access many of the details of every officer-involved shooting that results in injury or death.

The website was launched by the Texas Attorney General’s office in response to a new state law that requires law enforcement agencies to report all officer-involved shootings within 30 days from when the incident occurred. Continue…

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Here’s what open-source government looks like

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Seamus Kraft was running on minimal sleep through the days of furious Congressional debate surrounding the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), when he had his “aha!” moment. The digital director of communications for House Oversight and Government Reform chairman, Darrell Issa, was looking for a better way to get citizen input on a bill that had become a flashpoint across the internet community.

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D.C. police won’t release body-camera images, panelists say

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Although D.C. police officials said one of the aims of its police body camera program was to increase the police's accountability to the public, the public has yet to view any of the footage after repeated public records requests, experts said at a recent panel discussion.

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New Automated Program Launches for FOIA Requests

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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has announced the launch of FOIAXpress software to process and track Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and appeals.

FOIAXpress replaces the agency's in-house FOIA Tracking System (FTS) which has been in use since August 2009. Continue…

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Florida bill targets type of public records lawsuit

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Florida lawmakers are poised to make another attempt at limiting the lucrative industry of suing for public records.

Two state legislators said recently they are filing a measure for next year’s Legislature aimed at taking on what they labeled “scammers” who use public record requests to reach financial settlements with cities and counties. Continue…

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Washington’s open meetings law doesn’t stop informal meetings, court rules

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The Washington Supreme Court has ruled that a small group of San Juan County council members did not violate the open public meetings law by meeting informally with county officials and employees.

Affirming a lower court ruling, the Supreme Court said the team of council members working on an update of the county's critical areas ordinance did not constitute a committee of and did not act on behalf of the council. Continue…

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CSU eyes restrictions to state open records law

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The Colorado State University System may propose changing the state’s open-record policy to honor only requests made by Colorado residents.

Michael Nosler, attorney for the CSU Board of Governors, said the idea generated from his office and described it as still preliminary during Friday’s board meeting in Fort Collins. Continue…

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Outside groups playing bigger role in 2015 state elections

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Independent from candidates or political parties, political groups are playing a much larger role in state elections than a year ago, a Center for Public Integrity analysis of television advertising data shows.

So far this year, independent groups account for roughly 23 percent of TV ad dollars spent in the seven states with major races. Continue… 

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FOIA debate continues in Cleveland

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Mayor Rick Lindell said Thursday he will call trustees to set a meeting later this month on finances.

A planned Sept. 24 meeting didn’t happen, with Mayor Lindell saying he’s been busy and there's a “new crew” on the board. Ultimately, he said, he will post last year’s financial report at the village hall and will start doing so on a monthly basis. Continue…

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