A few open government and FOIA news items from the last couple days that we might not have drawn attention to earlier:
Expert: Anaheim records policy violates state law
The Anaheim Planning Department's records retention policy violates state law by asking employees to purge certain city records before they are old enough to be legally destroyed, Voice of OC's open-government consultant, Terry Francke, said Wednesday.
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"What the city is doing is administratively opting out of compliance with state law," said Francke, who is general counsel for the First Amendment advocacy group Californians Aware.
Visit Voice of OC for the rest.
Illinois state senator seeks inquiry into connections to state leases
A state senator wants Illinois government to probe its leases of buildings connected to Springfield businessman and Republican fundraiser William Cellini, who was convicted of corruption in November.
Visit State Journal-Register for the rest.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) claims not supported by evidence
Syracuse, N.Y. — Case-by-case records provided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) show that many fewer individuals were apprehended, deported or detained by the agency than were claimed in its official statements — congressional testimony, press releases, and the agency's latest 2010 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics.
The ICE data was provided to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University in late December, almost two years — 582 days — after TRAC had requested it on May 17, 2010.
Visit Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse for the rest.
Sherwood City (Ark.) Council members insist resolution did not violate FOIA
Sherwood City Council members deny violating the Freedom of Information Act regarding a controversial resolution condemning the mayor for not telling aldermen the city had received results of a $32,875 feasibility study concerning impact fees for builders.
According to the FOIA handbook, “A quorum of the governing body need not be present for the meeting to be subject to the FOIA. If two members meet informally to discuss past or pending business, that meeting may be subject to the FOIA.”
Visit Arkansas Leader for the rest.