National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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Will Florida’s Constitution revision follow Sunshine laws?

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Florida’s unique quest to update its state Constitution begins Monday as the 37-member commission meets for an organizational session in the Florida Senate chambers, and tensions have already started to mount behind the scenes.

The group, dominated by Republicans, will meet briefly for two hours, review its proposed rules and go over the state’s ethics and Sunshine laws. The draft rules, however, are already stoking some debate.

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UNC one of two universities to use new public records request portal

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The University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Public Records Office has changed the way people make public records requests to the University.

They now use Next Request, a web-based portal, to field public records requests. Before this change, requests were made via email and displayed as open or closed on the public records website.

Gavin Young, senior director for the Public Records Office, said the University of New Mexico is the only other school using Next Request.

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Department of Homeland Security releases annual FOIA report – Backlog down as requests increase

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The Department of Homeland Security released its annual FOIA report for 2016. Acting Chief FOIA Officer Jonathan R. Cantor said in the report that DHS receives more FOIA requests than any other department, accounting for 40% of all FOIA requests made across the federal government. The bulk of these requests are made to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Cantor also said that DHS's sizeable FOIA backlog has reduced despite an increase in requests.

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Tn. Coalition for Open Government: House committee passes bill allowing requests by email with some limits for “bad players”

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The House State Government committee unanimously passed H.B. 58 this week, which would make clear that citizens may send records requests by email to records custodians.

The email bill also contains a section meant to deal with multiple requests to view records from someone who never comes to review them, and requests for copies for which a person never pays for or retrieves.

Continue…

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What’s New in Civic Tech: Sunlight Foundation Guide Seeks to Improve Open Data Practices

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The Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that works with tech and other initiatives to make government more transparent, has released a new Tactical Data Engagement guide aimed at helping cities engage residents and improve communities with public data.

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Michigan House Members Pass FOIA Expansion Bills

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Michigan House members on Thursday passed bills that would make the governor, lieutenant governor and the Legislature accountable under the state's Freedom of Information Act.

The package of 10 bills — a bipartisan effort — passed unanimously and now moves to the GOP-controlled Senate where its future is not so certain.

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‘Always appeal,’ and more pro tips from a dozen FOIA experts

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In January, CJR contributors published a selection of FOIA best practices, based on an analysis of more than 33,000 such requests. Among a number of conclusions, the analysis showed that individual practices (and the responses to them) can vary widely. I’d emphasize that using the Freedom of Information Act effectively is about more than preparing a request. Rather, it’s about the process: researching the agencies, following up with FOIA officers, appealing denials, and so on.

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Kansas Senate to consider effort to block excessive fees for open records

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The Senate may take up a bill soon meant to prevent public agencies from deterring open records requests or using them as a revenue source by charging excessive fees.

The bill was scheduled for debate Wednesday afternoon, but was postponed.

Public agencies that testified against the bill have expressed concern it goes too far. But Sen. Jacob LaTurner, R-Pittsburg, has been pursuing such limits to what government can charge for a few years.

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Rochester, NY: City looks to ease access to public records

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Getting access to a city of Rochester police report, property record or purchasing data is now a matter of point and click, thanks to a new online process that Mayor Lovely Warren announced Thursday.

An estimated 3,850 open records or Freedom of Information Law requests will come into the city this fiscal year — that's at least one for every hour of business, of every working day. Much of that is pushed through via email messages, file folders and marker pens.

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