National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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Opinion: Release the records now

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Five years ago, a taxpayer watchdog invoked the state Freedom of Information Law and started a court battle for access to the names of retired public employees who are collecting pensions, along with the amounts of their payments.

The litigation drags on, despite a ruling by New York’s highest court that the information is public. As it clearly is under the law. As it must be in order for the public to scrutinize New York’s vast, increasingly expensive public retirement systems.

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Open records advocate: Citizens have tougher time than media

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Denial of public records, excessive fees to find out what the government is doing, violations of open meetings law and long delays in getting information are some of the problems open records advocates find in Tennessee.

News media routinely face hurdles in getting information to report to the public but ordinary citizens have it 10 times worse, said Deborah Fisher, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government. She made the comment during the annual Associated Press-Tennessee Press Association legislative preview session.

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State government asked to provide nearly every email ever sent

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Open government experts say he's asking for the impossible. Tim Clemans, a local computer programmer, has requested almost every email from every state agency ever sent, which some fear could push the public records act to the breaking point.

Email is one of the main ways state government workers communicate. Clemans wants the public to have access to the messages those workers send.

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Open meetings bill withdrawn in Wyoming House

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A legislative proposal that had concerned government transparency advocates has been withdrawn by the bill’s sponsor.

Rep. Bob Nicholas, R-Cheyenne, pulled House Bill 232 Thursday morning right before it was about to be debated by the House Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee.

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Bill would limit Public Information Act to Texans

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A bill filed Wednesday seeks to limit the scope of the Texas Public Information Act to Texas residents.

The legislation, filed by Rep. Mike Schofield, R-Katy, would allow members of a governmental body to decide if they want to deny or comply with open records requests filed by non-Texas residents. Current law stipulates public information in Texas must be made available to all members of the public, without regard to residency.

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SC House panel advances public records legislation

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Proposals aimed at ending governmental abuses of the state's open records law advanced Wednesday in the South Carolina House.

Legislation sent to the full House Judiciary Committee would require government entities to respond more quickly to requests, bar them from charging excessive fees, and create a way to settle disputes quickly and cheaply.

"It's designed to clean up the abuses that exist and are in practice today and make it easy for citizens to seek redress," said Rep. Weston Newton, R-Bluffton, the main sponsor.

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Opinion: EFF Launches Awards Program For Most Outrageous Failures In FOIA Responses

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We've written many stories about ridiculous responses to FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests (as well as similar state and local law requests) over the years. I've personally filed a few FOIA requests over the years and have never seen one sufficiently answered in the time limit required by the law.

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Newspapers File Lawsuit Against Florida Governor for Violating State’s Open Meeting Law

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The abrupt resignation of the chief of Florida's crime-fighting agency prompted media and open government advocates to file a lawsuit accusing Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet of violating state Sunshine Laws.

The Florida Society of News Editors, the Associated Press, Citizens for Sunshine and a St. Petersburg lawyer teamed up Wednesday to ask a Leon County court to rule that Scott's ouster of Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey subverted open meeting laws.

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