public records – Page 4 – National Freedom of Information Coalition

Washington state bill targeting public records access is dead

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A controversial Washington state bill that would have allowed local agencies to prioritize how they fulfill public records requests is dead.

House Bill 2576, which drew criticism from open-government proponents, but had strong support from local government entities, has been placed in the Washington State House Rules Committee “X” file, and will receive no further consideration this session, said the bill’s sponsor Rep. Joan McBride, D-Kirkland.

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Washington lawmakers opt to pursue study of public records requests

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Cities, counties and school districts won't be getting the changes to Washington's public records act that they asked lawmakers to make this session.

This week it became clear that a House bill allowing local governments to limit the time spent processing public record requests and to prioritize handling of those requests would not be voted on.

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Why private-college police forces are a new front in the fight over public records

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In 2014, Paula Lavigne, a reporter for ESPN’s Outside the Lines program, began investigating college athletes and the justice system.

Lavigne wanted to know whether prominent athletes receive preferential treatment during criminal inquiries, and to that end, she requested incident reports involving football and basketball players over a five-year period from campus police departments at 10 universities.

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Colorado database records bill dies, but stakeholders hope to work on a compromise

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Opposition from a state agency and several local governments Wednesday doomed proposed legislation intended to modernize Colorado’s open records law by requiring that public records kept in database formats be available to the public in similar formats.

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Op-ed: Fine tune, but don’t overhaul Washington state’s Public Records Act

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As the voters said when adopting the Public Records Act in 1972: “The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies that serve them.”

The people use public records to learn what their government is up to, so they can maintain control.

But under an evolving proposal in the state House of Representatives, records requests that are now answered promptly could languish at the bottom of a pile, and much of what government does could be hidden behind a wall of bureaucracy.

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Maine rail cargo secrecy law bypassed public access, safety defenses

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After a runaway oil train killed 47 people in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, just miles from the Maine border in 2013, Mainers demanded to know more about the state’s railways.

How much oil was moving through Maine? Which companies shipped it and along what routes? Was the government doing enough to keep communities safe?

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Idaho bill would exempt infrastructure records from disclosure

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Records related to “critical infrastructure” would become exempt from disclosure under public records law if a bill that was introduced Friday passes.

“Anyone can walk into any government office and get whatever blueprints they want,” Will Hart, executive director of the Idaho Consumer Owned Utilities Association, told the House State Affairs Committee.

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South Carolina bill requires police to get judge’s OK to withhold video

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Law enforcement agencies in South Carolina would need a judge's permission to withhold dashcam video under legislation intended to prevent police from indefinitely blocking the public's ability to scrutinize an officer's action.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Larry Martin said Thursday his bill could inject confidence in a police decision.

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Massachusetts passes public records reform bill

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The Massachusetts Senate unanimously passed a bill Thursday revamping the state’s much-maligned public records law, considered one of the least effective in the country.

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Tensions soar in Wisconsin over public records

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday fought over open-records laws covering unsubstantiated misconduct allegations against public servants.

The case at hand stems from requests by The Lakeland Times newspaper for state records on its communications with Vilas County District Attorney Albert Moustakis and its investigations into his conduct.

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