National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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Colorado Governor signs bill requiring ‘cooling-off period’ for CORA disputes

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Gov. John Hickenlooper signed legislation Thursday that requires a “cooling-off period” when open-records disputes reach the point where litigation is being considered.

With House Bill 17-1177, someone who is denied records under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) must wait 14 days to challenge the denial in court. During that time, the records custodian for a government entity must speak with the requester in person or by phone in an attempt to resolve the matter.

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Judge denies MLive FOIA request for Grand Rapids police phone calls

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A judge has rejected MLive's request that the city of Grand Rapids release recorded phones calls of police investigating a former Kent County prosecutor's crash.

MLive and the Grand Rapids Press sought recordings of five telephone calls on a phone designated non-recorded.

The calls involved fired Lt. Matt Janiskee talking to an officer, Adam Ickes, who described former prosecutor Josh Kuiper as "hammered," and to Sgt. Thomas Warwick, who drove Kuiper home after the Nov. 19 crash.

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Michigan TV station gets $38K FOIA bill as Home for Veterans investigation continues

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A local lawmaker is asking questions about a now year-long investigation of possible criminal behavior at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans by the state's Attorney General.

The investigation started in May of last year and, to date, no criminal charges have been announced by Attorney General Bill Schuette.

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South Carolina FOIA bill gets moved to the full Senate, but may hit roadblock

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Senators advanced a bill that would change how to resolve disputes over the state's Freedom of Information Act law, but the legislation could get stonewalled by opposition from some lawmakers.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to move a long-awaited bill to the full chamber Tuesday, over the objection of Sen. Margie Bright-Matthews, D-Walterboro, who doesn't want the state's Administrative Law Court to handle FOIA cases.

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Huntsville, AL: Closed records take toll on taxpayers

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[Miranda] Spivack spearheaded a database project with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called State Secrets. The project examined open records laws across the country.

"Alabama is one of the most closed," Spivack said. "Pretty much on every single question we asked, the answer was no, we don't do that. No, we can charge you anything we want. No, there's no time limit," she added.

The lack of a deadline for officials to respond leaves requesters waiting with no end in sight.

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Mich. State sues ESPN over sex assault investigation records

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Michigan State University is suing ESPN over a public records request involving police reports relating to ongoing sexual assault investigations.

MSU argues in a court filing that it has been put in an "impossible position" because Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon's office asked the university to withhold the records and ESPN asked for them to be released.

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NatGeo: We Asked the Government Why Animal Welfare Records Disappeared. They Sent 1,700 Blacked-Out Pages.

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From National Geographic: 

In January, the USDA deleted a public database that included inspection records from zoos, circuses, and research labs. In the agency’s response to our FOIA request, it still refuses to say why.

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Government watchdog files FOIA lawsuit seeking alleged EPA encryption documents

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Judicial Watch Inc. filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit March 23 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that some Environmental Protection Agency officials “may have used the cellphone encryption application ‘Signal’ to thwart government oversight and transparency,” according to a Judicial Watch news release.

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From CFOIC: Legislation would change availability of public information on juveniles charged as adults

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But if a bill under consideration in the Colorado legislature had been in effect, arrest records showing the names of the juveniles would not have been released – not then and perhaps not for several months.

Under House Bill 17-1204, a judge would have to order a juvenile be charged as an adult to trigger the public release of all currently available arrest and criminal records in such cases. A judge makes that decision after a reverse transfer hearing, in which youths who are “direct filed” in adult court ask to have their cases sent to juvenile court.

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