National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

Author: NFOIC

Profile picture of NFOIC
Website
https://nfoic.org

Posts by NFOIC

Washington state Democrats push quietly to roll back open-records laws

Posted on

OLYMPIA — Washington’s Democrats didn’t campaign last year on rolling back the state’s Public Disclosure Act. But with their new one-seat state Senate majority, Democratic lawmakers have swiftly and quietly pushed two bills to curb parts of Washington’s open-records laws. Lawmakers call the measures necessary to protect state employees from harassment and identify theft, and […]

Read More… from Washington state Democrats push quietly to roll back open-records laws

Colorado Transparency News – Feb. 20, 2018

Posted on

Colorado Transparency News – Feb. 20, 2018   Newsletter of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to helping Coloradans understand and use their rights of access to the records and proceedings of government and the judiciary. Subscribe to this newsletter | Like CFOIC on Facebook | Follow @CoFOIC  DONATE SIGN UP TODAY for our March 16 FOI WORKSHOPS AND AWARDS […]

Read More… from Colorado Transparency News – Feb. 20, 2018

MD: Worcester Board of Education found in violation of open meeting laws

Posted on

In response to a complaint, the Maryland Open Meetings Compliance Board recently determined the Worcester County Board of Education violated four provisions of Maryland’s Open Meetings Act.  Open meeting laws are designed to provide broad public access to public records while respecting privacy rights of citizens and protecting legitimate government interests, according to the Maryland […]

Read More… from MD: Worcester Board of Education found in violation of open meeting laws

Virginia Senate approves bill to shield student contact information

Posted on

RICHMOND — After a political group obtained college students’ contact information and used it to send mass text messages for last year’s election, the Virginia Senate on Monday overwhelmingly approved a bill to protect student privacy. House Bill 1 from Del. Tony Wilt, R-Rockingham, would stop college student directory information from being released under the […]

Read More… from Virginia Senate approves bill to shield student contact information

lawmaker sued over alleged open records violation

Posted on

A conservative law firm sued a Democratic state lawmaker for allegedly violating the Wisconsin open records law after charging more than $3,000 for requested records, the latest front in the ongoing battle over whether emails must be provided electronically or on paper. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed the lawsuit Thursday in Dane […]

Read More… from lawmaker sued over alleged open records violation

Tennessee Comptroller’s office released a list of 538 exemptions to the public records law passed by lawmakers.

Posted on

Recently the Tennessee Comptroller’s office released a list of 538 exemptions to the public records law passed by lawmakers. Most of those — almost 450 — were added in the past 30 years, according to the best information the office could find. But really, isn’t that one of the problems? It was notable that Comptroller […]

Read More… from Tennessee Comptroller’s office released a list of 538 exemptions to the public records law passed by lawmakers.

Feds Pressed to Unredact Names in Voting Panel Emails

Posted on

WASHINGTON (CN) – A nonpartisan campaign reform group wants a federal judge to compel the Justice Department to un-redact names from a chain of emails secured through a Freedom of Information Act request that it says shed light on the inner workings of President Trump’s now defunct voter fraud commission. President Trump created the Presidential […]

Read More… from Feds Pressed to Unredact Names in Voting Panel Emails

Withholding public records costs Port of Tacoma $159,000

Posted on

The Port of Tacoma violated the state Public Records Act last year, acted in bad faith and showed gross negligence during the process, according to a decision handed down this week by Pierce County Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson. The price of that failure: $159,000, including the maximum penalty — $100 per day — for […]

Read More… from Withholding public records costs Port of Tacoma $159,000

Lawmakers studying whether public records law should apply to themselves

Posted on

BOSTON — A group of lawmakers studying whether to extend the state public records law to cover themselves and their colleagues kicked off its work Tuesday, an effort they said would primarily involve listening to the public. Chaired by Rep. Jennifer Benson Lunenburg and Sen. Walter Timilty of Milton, the commission plans to meet next […]

Read More… from Lawmakers studying whether public records law should apply to themselves

Texas prison system stalls release of public information on executions

Posted on

Earlier this month, defense lawyers claimed Texas was botching its executions with old drugs. Now, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has stalled the release of information on how many lethal doses the state has and when they expire. The cloud of secrecy surrounding Texas executions has grown a little darker lately. After death penalty […]

Read More… from Texas prison system stalls release of public information on executions