Surveillance Camera Performers

After Columbia, Missouri voters approved placing security cameras downtown, one resident started the COMO Surveillance Camera Players. The idea is to have the actors perform in front of the cameras and then make a Sunshine Law request for the video.

The group of more than a hundred envisions doing art, reading poetry, and making political messages for the downtown cameras. The group's leader, Shane Ferguson, says the performers themselves may discourage crime. "What criminals are going to go where there are a bunch of artsy fartsy things happening in front of a camera?" Ferguson asked.

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Visiting Dignitaries Cost Floridians

The Miami Herald reports that Floridians picked up a $300,000 tab for security and protection costs of visiting dignitaries for the fiscal year ending June 30. Part of a reciprocal agreement with other states to guarantee the protection of high-profile leaders, Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials say the state's costs are so high because it's a popular destination spot.

Floridians paid $10,664 for Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry to attend a family friend's wedding last summer and the BCS Championship football game in January. They also paid $6,300 for South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's four visits to the Sunshine State.

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Footage of governor's office entrance denied in Sunshine request

Missouri Capitol Police have denied the News-Leader's request for video footage from cameras aimed at public entrances to the governor's office in the state Capitol. They cited an exemption passed after the 2001 terrorist attacks. "More specifically, showing areas which are covered by our cameras would reveal areas, (if any) which may be blind spots, thus compromising security at the Missouri Capitol," Capitol Police Capt. Paul Minze wrote in a July 31 response letter. The News-Leader submitted a formal appeal, which is pending. The newspaper is trying to verify whether a meeting between DNR Deputy Director Joe Bindbeutel and the governor took place. E-mails indicate it did, but the governor's office denied that such a meeting -- to discuss the high levels of E. coli in Lake of the Ozarks -- took place.

Missouri Capitol Police have cited a post-Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism exemption in the state's open records law in denying the News-Leader access to surveillance tape footage of the entrances of the governor's office.

Under a Sunshine Law request for public records, the newspaper sought to inspect archived video footage during various dates in June from cameras aimed at two public entrances in the governor's second floor office in the state Capitol in Jefferson City.

The News-Leader is seeking access to the video as part of its ongoing investigation into what role -- if any -- Nixon's office played in the Department of Natural Resources withholding a report for four weeks in June showing dangerously high levels of E. coli in Lake of the Ozarks.

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NFOIC Summit: Public access threats

Richard J. H. Varn, director of the Coalition for Sensible Public Records Access and the chief information officer for the City of San Antonio, spoke on the threats to and values of public access. Here's part one of notes on his 2009 NFOIC Summit session:

Threats to public access:

• Identity theft and security: The problem with identity theft is not with public records. It would flourish even if all access was cut off. A social security number is only worth about 10 cents on the black market. Concerns over identity theft, however, had led to more restrictions to public access than any other issue in the past couple decades. When public identifiers are not made public, it is nearly impossible to distinguish one person from another. It leads to more false positives and false negatives.
• Implementing public policies by redacting the truth: Because people with criminal records have difficulty finding jobs, apartments, etc., there has been a trend to expunge convictions from public records. However, this doesn't hide the fact that someone has been convicted. It's still in the police blotter archives, and a fellow co-worker could definitely reveal a prior conviction that another employee tried to hide. Redaction doesn't solve the problem. What would solve it is an employability of felons act. Facts can still be acted on. These people need rights.
  
• Increased fees beyond marginal cost and self-funding portal: Florida, for example, passed a cost increase to help solve its budget problems.
• Security concerns lead to overclassification.
  
• Coalition failures: Exemptions for media aren't enough. Citizens should have rights to the same information, and coalitions should champion for them. These citizens who request records are, after all, sometimes valuable sources.
• Private technology, public business: Using private e-mail accounts to conduct public business is ever increasing.
• New technology, same old issues: Just because it's Twitter or the latest social networking fad doesn't mean anyone is excused from providing access and charging only marginal costs.
• Enforcement failures: Obviously, many state coalitions are struggling to add teeth to their state's FOI laws.

Appeals court rules in favor of disclosing travel records

The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled in favor of Hearst Newspapers and Cox Newspapers, which sued to get the travel records of Gov. Rick Perry's security detail, the AP reported. The Texas Department of Public Safety can now appeal to the Texas Supreme Court.

An appeals court has rejected attempts to keep the travel records of Gov. Rick Perry's security detail secret.

The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled Friday the Texas Department of Public Safety has failed to show that releasing the records would be an invasion of privacy and create an imminent threat of physical danger.

Hearst Newspapers and Cox Newspapers sued to get the records. DPS can appeal Friday's ruling to the Texas Supreme Court.

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Defense Department's information systems remain unreliable

Journalists aren't the only ones struggling for accurate information from the Defense Department. According to a column on govexec.com, Air Force leaders have struggled to obtain up-to-date information reports needed to make crucial decisions on determining risks and assessing readiness. The column goes on to describe the Air Force's Transparency Integrated Product Team:

Like nearly all responsibilities of government, defending the nation's citizens and interests is driven by knowledge. National defense not only requires knowledge of an adversary's intent and capability, but also of the U.S. military's resources and readiness to deter, dissuade, disrupt or defeat the unwanted action by the enemy.

During the past six decades, the Defense Department has developed thousands of information systems to support decision-making. Interconnectivity at the machine-to-machine level of these systems is uneven. As a result, leaders at every level of the Air Force must often rely on manual, labor-intensive processes to obtain information that should be readily available.

At units worldwide, for example, commanders and directors routinely must know their "burn rates," or how quickly they are spending allocated funds, particularly compared with similar units. They must determine variables ranging from whether their people and equipment are ready for deployment to whether discrepancies noted in workplace and housing inspections have been resolved. Yet obtaining routine information reports can be challenging and time-consuming.

The root causes are many. In large organizations, critical data are scattered across components, time zones and information systems. As these pockets of data are connected machine to machine, meaningful information can be extracted across the entire organization. Otherwise, the data assist only a limited few.

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Washington S. Ct. Rules on Prisoner Access...

Per the AP...The state Supreme Court says prisons can keep government records away from inmates if authorities believe the information might be a security risk.

In a 5-4 ruling, the court says a prison's ability to intercept inmate mail does not conflict with prisoners' rights to obtain government information under the Public Records Act.

Dissenting justices say prison contraband policies shouldn't keep public records from an inmate, since the Public Records Act is supposed to trump other conflicting laws.

Thursday's case could have implications for a separate high-profile lawsuit over a prisoner's access to records. In that case, Attorney General Rob McKenna recently argued that felons have fewer rights to access government documents.