Missouri – Page 2 – National Freedom of Information Coalition

Editorial: Essential information one Missouri legislator doesn’t want you to know

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Missouri Rep. Genise Montecillo, D-Affton, has been on a singular mission for months to restrict access to certain police records, not because it’s in the public’s best interests but because it fits her personal agenda.

She wants the entire public kept in the dark whenever anyone in Missouri commits or attempts suicide. It’s a private matter and simply not the public’s business, she suggests. Except that it actually is the public’s business, especially when a person who attempts suicide is an elected official like Montecillo.

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Missouri Senate passes farm exemptions to open records laws

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Missouri's open records laws would not cover some farming data under a measure that has passed the Missouri Senate.

The legislation, which passed with a bipartisan majority of 25-6, would require state agencies to keep confidential the information farmers submit for voluntary agricultural programs, such as registration data for animal disease tracking programs. Anyone who improperly releases that information could be sued.

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Missouri legislation would close police reports of suicides

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A Missouri lawmaker who tried to kill herself last year now wants to make police reports of suicides and attempted suicides closed records.

Rep. Genise Montecillo’s proposal to restrict access to those reports received approval Wednesday from a House committee. Montecillo, a St. Louis Democrat, tried to kill herself in June 2015.

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Missouri lawmakers claim they’re exempt from the Sunshine Law

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When he first became chief clerk of the Missouri House in 2006, Adam Crumbliss’ view of Missouri’s Sunshine Law likely wasn’t much different than most.

“Legislators are part of government,” he said. “Government records are open. So I assumed legislative records should be open.”

Over time, as he’s studied the issue further, his opinion evolved.

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Missouri Supreme Court considers right to record Senate committee meetings

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The Missouri Supreme Court is weighing a lawsuit that accuses state senators of violating the Sunshine Law. Progress Missouri filed suit after being kicked out of Senate hearings on multiple occasions while videotaping proceedings.

The group's appeal to the state Supreme Court comes after the circuit judge of Cole County sided with the Senate. The high court heard arguments from both sides on Wednesday.

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Missouri House votes to limit public access to farm data

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The Missouri House has passed legislation restricting public access to some government data on farms and ranches.

Lawmakers voted 104-49 Monday to exempt state agency data on animal health and the environmental impact of farms from open records laws.

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Missouri bill would define open records access for police cameras

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A Kansas City-area Republican is sponsoring a bill that would set limits on when police camera footage is public record in Missouri.

The bill would block access to body camera recordings shot in homes, hospitals and schools unless the investigation is closed and someone in the video requests it.

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Editorial: Missouri open meetings, records law needs clarity

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A report last month described a tug of war for emails among supporters of opposing Republican candidates for Missouri attorney general in 2016.

At the center of the contest is the University of Missouri, the employer of Josh Hawley, a faculty member with the MU School of Law, who wants to be attorney general. Continue>>>

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Audits of the Missouri House and Senate are underway

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The state auditor’s office is conducting an audit of the state legislature.

Democrat Nicole Galloway said her office’s reviews of the Republican-controlled House and Senate are regularly scheduled audits, the findings of the last ones having been released in 2013 under then-auditor Tom Schweich (R). Continue>>>

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Ruling in Missouri execution case could be a boon for transparency

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Public agencies in Missouri that don’t respond in three days to requests for public records under the state Sunshine Law give up their right to block the release of the records requested, a judge says in a lawsuit over the release of the pharmacy name in Missouri’s executions.

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