Arkansas School District Hesitates to Provide Football Coach Evaluations

Through the Arkansas Freedom of Information law, the Paragould Daily Press is seeking personnel records and evaluations related to the suspension of several assistant high school football coaches after a November 2009 overnight trip for a playoff game, but The Greene County Tech School District says releasing the documents would violate the coaches' right to privacy.

Read more here.

South Carolina Senate Committee Considers Public Access to EMS Workers' Names

The South Carolina Senate Medical Affairs Committee is considering a bill that would guarantee public access to emergency medical services operations, including the names of the workers.

The bill pits the interests of the South Carolina Press Association, which advocates for EMS workers to be subject to public scrutiny, against the S.C. Emergency Medical Services Association, which advocates for shielding workers' names until a complaint is lodged.

For more information, click here.

Washington Considers Removing Officials' Photographs from Public Records

In the wake of the deaths of four Lakewood, Washington police officers, the state's House and Ways and Means Committee voted to remove from public records photographs and birth dates of police, court and corrections employees.

Newspaper representatives say the bill would make it harder for the press not only to investigate where tax money goes and what lies in officials' pasts, but also to get images from the cameras that record police traffic stops or violent incidents inside jails or prisons.

Read more here.

Illinois Legislators Move to Exempt Teacher Performance Records from Public Disclosure

Illinois legislators passed a bill exempting performance evaluations of teachers and school administrators from public disclosures. Lobbyists for the teachers' unions had urged the change to the sweeping overhaul to the state's FOIA enacted five months ago, contending that performance evaluations are private and their disclosure would interfere with the evaluation process. Open records advocates disagree, saying it's in the public interest to know whether teachers or school administrators are substandard in their performance.

Get more information here.

Wis. S.C. decides newspapers are entitled to state personnel records

The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld a circuit court decision that provided newspapers access to state personnel records, the State Bar of Wisconsin reported. State agencies had refused to disclose names of state employees to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Lakeland Times based on a collective bargaining agreement with the Wisconsin State Employees Union. The Supreme Court determined that the Legislature didn't properly amend the Public Records Law to include its agreement with WSEU.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed two newspapers were entitled to access state personnel records after it concluded that the Legislature failed to properly amend the open records laws to prevent such disclosure.

But before the court could even reach these determinations in Milw. Journal Sentinel v. Wisc. Dept. of Admin., 2009 WI 79, it had to find that it was empowered to review the Legislature’s work. A majority of the court concluded that it was, given its mandate to review statutes for compliance with the constitution.

In dissent, Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson said that the court’s review was unduly interfering in the affairs of an equal branch of government.

More here.

Nevada cites FERPA to redact NCAA violations data

Nevada athletics director Cary Groth agrees that FERPA could be updated so that it's clearer. Nevada provided all information requested except data regarding violations in the Columbus Dispatch investigative story regarding NCAA programs. Legal counsel advised the athletic department not to release this information in the midst of the NCAA investigation into a 2007 whistleblower complaint. The Reno-Gazette Journal had also asked for information on the whistleblower complaint through three FOI requests. The university provided the data but cited FERPA and redacted student-athlete names and cited personnel matters exemptions for redacting the names of coaches and administrators.

Nevada athletics director Cary Groth said she was surprised to learn about the wide range of interpretations of FERPA -- the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act -- and that she agreed with the law's writer that it needs to be revamped.

"I was kind of surprised there was such a variance of openness," Groth said, reacting to an investigative story by the Columbus Dispatch in Ohio that reported that many of the 119 FBS (formerly Division I-A) schools use the 1974 federal law improperly in an effort to keep their NCAA troubles secret. "In the article it talks about bringing (the law) in and looking at it again. That would be very helpful, to identify what we can and what we can't release.

"To hide behind the law when you shouldn't, I think that's wrong."

More here.

Conn. Corrections wants to bar inmates from getting personnel files

The Conn. Department of Correction is concerned that inmates can file information requests and obtain home addresses and other data about department employees, the Record-Journal reported. A House bill "would prohibit the department's commissioner from disclosing personnel, medical or similar files, including security investigation records and complaints against current or former correction's employees, to inmates unless there is a court order to do so." Even if the bill were passed, inmates could find personal information about employees on the Web or have family members request the information. Since 2006, only five requests filed by Conn. inmates have been for personnel files.

Sometimes it only takes a letter.

Using the Freedom of Information Act to request employee files, prison inmates can learn the home addresses and disciplinary records of state Department of Correction workers. State law allows them access to the information unless the department can prove that the request would threaten employee safety.

It is a process that concerns the department, which worries that access to such information could lead to its employees being harmed or blackmailed, said Bryan Garnett, the DOC's external affairs director.

More here.

Ill. attorney general supports some exemptions

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who might be a candidate for governor in 2010, is trying to add muscle to the Public Access Bureau, which currently doesn't have much power to enforce public records laws, the Chicago Tribune reported. However, Madigan doesn't disagree with some of the controversial exemptions to the Illinois public records law. She supports the exemption of preliminary drafts and performance evaluations of public employees.

Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan created the Public Access Bureau in 2004 -- a first-ever effort in Illinois to help the public get a clearer picture of how state and local governments make decisions.

The office has trained and advised public officials on open meetings and open records issues. It also has helped mediate records disputes between citizens and government agencies, an effort she says has been stymied by a lack of teeth.

Madigan, a Democrat pondering a run for governor in 2010, says she wants to do more. Seizing upon the public outcry for change following the scandalous tenures of two successive governors, she is seeking more authority to settle records disputes and penalize public officials who violate the law.

More here.

Texas Senate approves bill that exempts employee data

The Texas Senate unanimously passed a bill that automatically exempts data about current and former state government employees, the Austin American-Statesman reported. This includes home addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers. Another exemption could keep employee photos, time sheets and work locations private.

The Texas Senate today approved a bill that will allow current and former government employees in Texas to keep secret an increased array of state-kept information about themselves.

Things such as home addresses, phone numbers, Social Security number and information that “reveals whether the person has family members” could be kept secret.

Under current law, employees can opt to keep that information secret. Under Senate Bill 331, it will automatically be exempt from the Texas Public Information Act.

More here.

Roanoke Times files second open records suit of the month

After the city of Radford, Va., heavily redacted parts of FOIA requests related to an internal city investigation of a harassment complaint, The Roanoke Times filed suit. Earlier this month, the newspaper challenged the sheriff's office policy of withholding photos of inmates released on bond.

The Roanoke Times filed suit Monday against the city of Radford over the city's decision to withhold portions of documents the newspaper sought under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

The lawsuit -- technically called a "writ of mandamus" -- centers around two FOIA requests filed with Radford officials in August and September by Roanoke Times reporter Tim Thornton. Among other things, Thornton asked the city to provide him copies of any other FOIA requests the city received between June 15 and Sept. 18.

In response to Thornton's requests, City Attorney Jim Guynn provided heavily redacted copies of two FOIA requests, erasing names and other pertinent information and in one case excluding two pages of a two-and-a-half-page document.

More here.

In Texas, Where the Cops Are Hired on the Basis of...well...

Twenty years ago, police unions in Texas converged on the Capitol with a mission.

They found friendly legislators to push a bill that appeared to address only a mundane administrative matter about personnel record-keeping. It quickly passed in 1987 with little public notice.

But buried inside were provisions that ever since have kept taxpayers in the dark about some of the most important management practices of public institutions in Texas.

The law forever closed to the public whole sections of city personnel files.

Because of this change, known as Section 143.089 of the Local Government Code, most Texas taxpayers — with the exception of Dallas — never can know how their police departments carry out the vital functions of vetting and evaluating recruits. They also can't readily know how thoroughly officers accused of misconduct are investigated.

Through the years, 143.089 has impeded the public from exploring these practices.

Emblematic of the problem is the case of former Police Officer Joseph Anthony Evans who, the San Antonio Express-News has learned, was hired in 1994 despite a checkered past that disqualified him from being a cop. After 12 years on the force, Evans faces sentencing Wednesday for allowing his live-in girlfriend to peddle methamphetamines.

Documents in his personnel file, normally cloaked by the law, became public while he was being prosecuted. The city, citing the law, refused to release to the Express-News similar documents that would show whether other officers were hired despite a cloud.

More here. And the main story, here, is a GREAT example of why FOI matters so much and why cutting off access to this kind of stuff can be really dangerous.

A HUGE Victory in Texas...

A Texas appeals court ruled Thursday that state employees' birth dates are public and must be released, a decision hailed by open-government advocates.

The state comptroller's office sought to withhold date-of-birth information from The Dallas Morning News, citing concerns about possible identity theft. But the 3rd District Court of Appeals in Austin upheld a lower court ruling rejecting that argument and said the comptroller hadn't proved its claim.

"The speculative and unproven threat of identity theft is insufficient to exempt date-of-birth information from disclosure," the court said.

The comptroller's office said it was disappointed by the ruling and was considering an appeal to the Texas Supreme Court. "No private sector employer is required to release to the public its employees' date-of-birth information," spokesman R.J. DeSilva said, "and we believe government employees should have the same protection."

David Starr, vice president and deputy general counsel of Belo Corp., The News' parent company, said the outcome is an important open-records victory. "This ruling will help The News keep an eye on how state government spends taxpayer dollars and how public employees do their jobs," he said.

More here, including pithy quotes from yours truly.

AZ lawmaker: "transparency breeds accountability" in

In a refreshing reversal of the many bills we've seen this year that seek to close records ostensibly to "protect" us, at least a few Arizona lawmakers see the light:

State lawmakers are moving to make some child-welfare records, court proceedings and state employee personnel records open to the public in an attempt to shine light on the actions of Child Protective Services.

The proposals are part of a package of bills expected to be introduced soon by Reps. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, and Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, in the wake of legislative hearings this fall on the deaths of three children from Tucson whose parents had been investigated by CPS.

The underlying theme of the bills, which were unveiled at a legislative committee hearing Tuesday, is that "transparency will breed accountability," Adams said.

One bill would open up records in cases of a death or near-death of a child. A judge could decide not to open the files for certain reasons, such as harm to the child or siblings...

Another bill being drafted would affect all state employees by opening more personnel and disciplinary records to the public, mirroring the standards used by cities and counties in Arizona, Paton said.

More here.