NFOIC Summit: Kentucky FOIA roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: Terry Anderson of the University of Kentucky provided a summary of his state's FOI news.

• The state trying to revive the Kentucky Citizens for Open Government.
• The governor and attorney general are committed to open government. The chief justice just started a review of court rules on openness with the intention of opening them up more. Kentucky has a bigger problem with the legislature. The lawmakers don't seem committed.
• One legislator is determined to prevent the use of 911 calls in broadcasting.
• There is a legislative attempt to extend First Amendment rights to high school journalists.
• There also was a proposal to create a legislative investigative agency that would investigate other branches of government; however, its operations would have been exempted from public records.
  

NFOIC Summit: Missouri FOI roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: Mike Sherry of the Missouri Sunshine Coalition provided a summary of his state's FOI news.

• The Missouri Sunshine Coalition is trying to figure out the best way to go about advocating and how to be more than an extension of the Missouri Press Association which already advocates for open records changes.
  

NFOIC Summit: Oklahoma FOI roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: Joey Senat with Oklahoma State University School of Journalism and Broadcasting provided a summary of his state's FOI news.

• The attorney general issued a binding decision regarding private technologies. The public access to it depends on the nature of the document not the technology. If it has to do with public business, it's public. The Oklahoma Department of Libraries helped make that request. The state also has a statute related to records retention, which is what the library was interested in. There's still an need to talk to state agencies on what to do with the records they are now keeping.
• Enforcement of open-government laws falls to local district attorneys, which is a problem. The Court of Civil Appeals says said if you violate the open meetings law based on advice from your attorney, it's still a violation. You're supposed to know what the law is.
  

NFOIC Summit: Wisconsin FOIA roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: Christa Westerberg of Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council provided a summary of her state's FOI news.

• Wisconsin has seen good legal developments because of court cases that clarifies what constitutes good notice and when quasi-government organizations are subject to open meetings and records laws.
• The state has no consistent retention policy on any records. The attorney general says agencies must have a policy, but it doesn't matter what's in it.
• Legislators are working on a shield law for reporters' notebooks and sources.
• We're trying to model Minnesota's policy for police records.
• The state could use a better fees policy. Fees are now issued at the discretion of the custodian so there's a lot of arbitrariness.
• The state legislature is allowed to hammer out the budget in some private committees. Two provisions in the proposed budget include: the expungement of certain felon records and the elimination of designating official state newspapers so that required government notices could just go online without being published in print publications.
  

NFOIC Summit: Florida FOIA roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: Barbara Petersen of Florida First Amendment Foundation provided a summary of her state's FOI news.

• Florida is celebrating its 100th anniversary of its public records law and the 30th anniversary of allowing cameras in the courtroom.
• Peterson chaired Florida's Commission on Open Government Reform. The final report, "Reforming Florida's Open Government Laws in the 21st Century," was submitted, and she will now be assisting in drafting legislation on the report's recommendations.
  

NFOIC Summit: Minnesota FOIA roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: Helen Burke of the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information provided a summary of her state's FOI news.

• The governor's approach toward retention of e-mails is that they be kept up to 90 days, preferably 30 days.
• Minnesota took a step in the right direction with the Transparency and Accountability Project which includes vendor reports.
• Minnesota doesn't allow cameras in the courtroom, but the Supreme Court has said there can be a commission set up to explore this issue. It's moving at a glacial pace but in a good direction.
• The Uptake streamed the hearings regarding the Franken/Coleman senatorial election.
• Public access suffered a setback when the governor signed into law a bill that defines the Department of Natural Resources database as not a public database.
  

NFOIC Summit: Public access values

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 two of the notes on his NFOIC 2009 Summit Session:

Values of public access:

• Identify verification and fraud prevention: Being able to verify facts such as birth date, address, etc. ensures that you don't wrongly identify someone. Secondary verifications rely on public records to prevent someone from representing themselves as you.
• Risk management and background screening.
• Public policy enforcement (Red Flag Rules): Before you're granted a bank account, the bank needs to verify that you are who you say you are. They largely draw from public records to find out multiple uses of the same address, multiple uses of a social security number and misuse of multiple birth records. Without access, banks are limited in preventing money laundering and theft.
• Life events: Owing a home, renting an apartment, buying a car, getting a job, dating, getting married, day care and senior care depend on access to records. You want to make sure the person watching your children or parents don't have issues, right?
• Person and business locations: Facebook doesn't always work in locating people.
• Workplace safety and vulnerable populations: Public records are used to perform background and credit checks on employees.
• Administration of justice: You can't find out facts without proper access to public records.
• Helping residents exercise their right to know.
• Targeted communications and marketing.
• Economic growth and democratization of opportunity: Small businesses rely on public records, which provide a cheap way to obtain market data, an analysis of the community or economy and list of potential customers.
• Market efficiency: Public records are used to forecast economic conditions and inventory systems.
• Public safety and law enforcement: Public records are investigative tools used to find suspects and witnesses.
• Customer service: A chemical company contains you because they know you have a pool. They saw it on Google Maps.
• Product safety and recalls: Public access helps companies find people who own things now considered unsafe.
• Due diligence and other legal duties.

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.

Dallas City Hall to purge e-mails after 90 days

Dallas City Hall's new policy to retain electronic communication for only 90 days is disappointing to open-records advocates who realize that it's sometimes a year or more before an issue arises, The Dallas Morning News reported. At that point, there will be no records. City officials say the policy is to help save storage space.

Dallas City Hall soon will begin purging from its computer servers many e-mails 90 days or older - a policy city officials say will save precious storage space but one some open-government advocates fear will hamper transparency.

For years, Dallas has lacked a clear document retention policy governing electronic communications.

The new 90-day e-mail policy will also help the city methodically and responsibly cull what's become a massive amount of information stored on its central computer servers, City Secretary Deborah Watkins said.

More here.

Del. Senate supports 'unconstitutional' open-government bill

The Delaware Senate approved a bill that would stop budget writing committees from having closed-door meetings but would keep communications by legislators private, the AP reported. Senate attorney Jeff Clark warned that the bill was unconstitutional because members of one legislative chamber cannot bind the other through statute and a current legislature can't pass a law that controls future sessions of the General Assembly.

The state Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved a House bill aimed at making the legislature more transparent to the public despite being told by a staff attorney that the bill is unconstitutional.

Two members of the Democratic majority openly admitted they were voting for the bill because of how they might be perceived by the public.

“For the sake of perception, we can probably do this,” said Sen. Harris McDowell III, D-Wilmington, after reminding colleagues of their attorney’s opinion.

More here.

D.C. Open Government Coalition plans its first meeting

From Melissa Davenport, executive director of D.C. Open Government Coalition:

Please save the date for the first organizational meeting of the D.C. Open Government Coalition:

When: Tuesday, June 23rd, at 5:30 p.m.
Where: Ropes & Gray offices (located at Metro Center, 700 12th St. NW, Suite 900)

The Coalition will be working to increase transparency and access to government information in the District of Columbia. We welcome anyone interested in helping to set the Coalition's initial agenda and look forward to your participation in refining our focus and thinking about how we can best have an impact in this area. We will also establish the Coalition's new Board of Directors.
In addition, at this meeting the Coalition will release its first publication, a citizens' guide to the D.C. Freedom of Information Act.

Please join us! And don't hesitate to be in touch with any questions or suggestions.

SPJ executive director dies after battle with cancer

Terry Harper, the seven-year executive director of the Society of Professional Journalists, died Tuesday at his home in Indianapolis after a long battle with brain cancer, according to SPJ President Dave Aeikens. He was 45.

Aeikens, who informed SPJ board members in an e-mail this afternoon of Harper's death, said Harper had just recently stepped down from his post. SPJ officials had posted a notice just this morning advising members of Harper giving up his day-to-day responsibilities due to his illness.

Terry was a friend, a colleague and a hell of a human being. NFOIC mourns his passing and wishes the world to know what a huge role he played in supporting the work of the NFOIC. He is missed, and the world is a smaller place without him.

Charles

More here.

Newspaper sues to learn if governor's permit was suspended

The Nevada Supreme Court heard argument on whether information related to Gov. Jim Gibbons' concealed gun permit should be released to the Reno Gazette-Journal, the Las Vegas Sun reported. Gibbons said he doesn't carry a concealed gun but has a permit. He surrendered his license in January of last year after a delay in getting the required training to carry one of his guns. He says no disciplinary action was taken, but a reporter heard that his weapon permit might have been suspended or revoked.

Gov. Jim Gibbons said today he never carries a concealed gun, even though he has a permit to do so.

And he said he once surrendered his weapons permit but he was never disciplined.

The Nevada Supreme Court has heard arguments on whether the Reno Gazette-Journal was entitled to information that may show the weapons permit of Gibbons was revoked or suspended. A district court has ruled the newspaper is not entitled to that information.

More here.

Legislature overturns ruling, keeps travel details secret

The Texas Legislature voted to overturn the ruling by the Third Court of Appeals that travel records for the governor's security detail should be released to newspapers, the Houston Chronicle reported. Sen. Jeff Wentworth said releasing the records could compromise security. Someone who wanted to harm a public official could find out how many bodyguards travel with Gov. Perry, where they stay and whether or not they travel in advance of the governor, he told the Chronicle. A costs summary for the security detail can, however, be disclosed.

The state House and Senate voted Sunday night to restrict access to travel vouchers for the security details that travel with the governor and other top elected officials, days after an appeals court ruled that the records should be turned over to Texas newspapers.

Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, said the provision would overturn an appeals court ruling last week that said the records should be disclosed to newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News, which sued to obtain the records.

The Senate had passed a bill to exempt the records from public disclosure, but Wentworth said the bill got “stuck in the House.” So lawmakers in both chambers voted, without opposition, to add the language to another public records bill.

More here.

County sued for possibly overcharging for records

California Public Records Research Inc. filed suit against Monterey County Clerk's Office after the office charged $2 per page for records rather than actual copying costs, estimated at 10 cents per page, The Monterey County Herald reported. "County Counsel Charles McKee and Clerk-Recorder Steve Vagnini, who is named in the suit, said when it comes to copying public documents, records in the clerk's and assessor's offices fall under different statutes than the Public Records Act." Similar suits have been filed in all 58 California counties.

If you've been paying $2 per page for records at the Monterey County Clerk's Office, you're due a refund, according to Southern California attorneys who are suing the county for allegedly violating the state Public Records Act.

Attorneys for California Public Records Research Inc. say state law allows local agencies to charge only the actual costs of copying public records, including real estate records maintained by county clerks.

In their class action lawsuit, filed Thursday in Monterey County Superior Court, Clifton Hodges and Donald Ricketts maintain those costs amount to no more than 10 cents per page.

More here.

Columbus Dispatch finds different interpretations of FERPA

Inside Higher Ed highlighted The Columbus Dispatch's investigation that uncovered widely different interpretations of FERPA by athletics programs. The newspaper sent public records requests for athletic-related documents to all 119 in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Several programs used the vague law to deny or redact parts of records that were unrelated to students' academic records. Check to see how open your favorite athletic program was here.

A six-month investigation by The Columbus Dispatch has found that colleges and universities use "wildly different legal interpretations" of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act to deny access to information about athletics programs. The newspaper sent colleges with big-time athletics programs similar requests for information and found wide variation in what institutions provided, with FERPA commonly cited to avoid providing information commonly released by other institutions. Even within the same state, the newspaper found inconsistent interpretations. The newspaper also interviewed James Buckley, the one-time U.S. senator who wrote the law, and found that he was "stunned" at the way athletics programs are citing the measure to keep information secret.

More here.

Telegraph scoop sells papers

The Daily Telegraph sold 900,000 additional copies in the first two weeks it ran serialized reports of Parliament members' expense records, The New York Times reported. Unconfirmed reports indicate that The Telegraph paid $145,000 for the reports.

British newspapers sometimes give away CDs or DVDs in the hope that readers enticed by free copies of “Batman 26” might cast a passing glance at the headlines, too.

One newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, has reversed that approach, to spectacular effect. Instead of giving away a disk, it acquired one (or more) of them containing the expense records of members of Parliament.

As The Telegraph splashes tales of taxpayer-financed duck islands and moat-cleaning across its front pages, there is talk of a political revolution along the Thames. Some of the conventional wisdom of the news business has gone belly up, too.

More here.

Records reveal special consideration given to University of Ill. applicants

FOI at Work!
The Chicago Tribune reviewed about 1800 pages of documents (obtained via FOIA), which revealed that about 800 undergraduate students since 2005 have received special admission consideration at the University of Illinois. The newspaper terms it the "clout list." Last school year about 77 percent of those on this list were admitted when only 69 percent of all applicants were accepted. Documents show "politically appointed trustees and lawmakers routinely behave as armchair admissions officers advocating on behalf of relatives and neighbors."

At a time when it's more competitive than ever to get into the University of Illinois, some students with subpar academic records are being admitted after interference from state lawmakers and university trustees, a Tribune investigation has revealed.

Hundreds of applicants received special consideration in the last five years, according to documents obtained by the Tribune under the state's Freedom of Information Act. The records chronicle a shadow admissions system in which some students won spots at the state's most prestigious public university over the protests of admissions officers, while others had their rejections reversed during an unadvertised appeal process.

In one case, a relative of Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the now-convicted influence peddler for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, got admitted after U. of I. President B. Joseph White wrote an e-mail stating that the governor "has expressed his support, and would like to see admitted" Rezko's relative and another applicant.

More here.

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.

More here.

Calif. Senate approves cost-limiting bill

The California Senate unanimously approved a bill to prevent judges from ordering plaintiffs to pay governments' legal costs in open records and meetings lawsuits, the AP reported. Newspaper publishers supported the effort.

The cost of fighting for access to public records and meetings would be limited under a bill approved by the Senate.

Sen. Leland Yee's bill would bar judges from ordering plaintiffs to pay governments' legal costs in open records and meetings lawsuits. Yee, a Democrat from San Francisco, says high costs have "a chilling effect" on such public interest lawsuits.

For instance, the nonprofit Center for Public Forum Rights near Sacramento paid $80,000 in government attorneys' costs last year after it sued Orange Unified School District for allegedly altering video of a public meeting.

More here.