Washington Task Force to Consider an Open Records Board

The Washington state attorney general and state auditor launched a task force to consider how to create a publicly-funded open-records board or commission to decide open-records and open-meetings quickly and outside of court.   The task force includes representatives from the state legislature, government, unions, lawyers and citizen activists.  The task force will craft a recommendation for lawmakers to consider in January.  

For more information about the task force and the Pennsylvania and Connecticut models being considered, click here.  

South Dakota House Passes Reform Bill

A bill that would set up an appeals process to resolve disputes over access to government records in South Dakota has been approved 68-1 by the state House.

If an agency denies a request for records, the person seeking those records could have the dispute reviewed by the state Office of Hearing Examiners.

The office could hold a hearing before determining if records should be released or remain closed to the public.

SB186 was approved earlier by the state Senate but must be returned to see if it agrees with some changes made by the House.