New Hampshire’s Right to Know law was written when public documents were all pieces of paper. The New Hampshire Senate is set to bring this important law into the digital age.
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Read More… from Editorial – New Hampshire Right to Know: Cutting the cost of transparency
HARRISBURG — The state’s Office of Open Records has ruled that government agencies are not permitted to charge fees if people requesting public records wish to use their smartphones to photograph the records they are examining.
The ruling, issued Friday, concerned a case in Reserve. Continue>>>
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Read More… from Pennsylvania: Phones OK’d to photograph public records
The Office of Open Records Counsel has set public hearings for Sept. 15-17 in Knoxville, Nashville and Jackson to gather input on whether citizens should have to pay local and state government to inspect public records.
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Read More… from Tennessee: Public hearings scheduled on public records fees
From wsoctv.com: INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. — Proposed changes to the public records policy in Indian Trail are raising questions about government transparency.
Tuesday evening, the Town Council will vote on the proposal, which civil rights experts said could limit citizens’ access to information.
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Under the new policy, residents would have to prepay a 75 percent deposit for any records requests that could exceed $100.
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Read More… from Changes to Indian Trail public records policy raises questions
From NFOIC: A few state FOIA and local open government news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier in the week. While you're at it, be sure to check out State FOIA Friday Archives.
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Read More… from NFOIC’s State FOIA Friday for October 18, 2013
From Patriot Ledger: BOSTON — News media representatives lobbied a legislative committee Tuesday, hoping to relegate to history the current, often slow and expensive process of obtaining official government records.
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From KFVS12.com: FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – The Meade County Sheriff’s Department has violated the Open Records Act by charging $10 for a CD containing six photographs.
That finding by the attorney general’s office was released on Tuesday. It held that charging more than the cost of the CD subverted the intent of Kentucky law governing access to public records.
Visit KFVS12.come for more.
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Read More… from Sheriff’s department overcharged for records on CD
From Mackinac Center: In June of this year, Capitol Confidential sent Freedom of Information Act requests to every municipality in the state which operates a golf course seeking financial information. Westland responded that the city requires a $5 fee up front before they will provide any information.
Westland also charged $1 per page for copying costs and $45.61 per hour for the person gathering the information.
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Read More… from Mackinac Center files FOIA suit against City of Westland, Mich.
From Des Moines Register: The Iowa Department of Public Safety now says it will not charge The Des Moines Register the overtime rate for an employee to gather data in response to a public records request.
The decision came a day after the newspaper filed three complaints with the Iowa Public Information Board over record costs and access issues involving the departments of Public Safety and Human Services.
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Read More… from Iowa Department of Public Safety reduces charge for public records
From Voice of Orange County: Orange County taxpayers could pay a $1-million legal tab for the Sierra Club because the county Board of Supervisors lost a court battle this week seeking to protect exclusive access to digital maps of the county for business groups and block free access for the public.
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Read More… from OC supervisors could owe Sierra Club $1 million in legal fees
