Oregon, Washington consider public records overhaul

from Oregon Public Broadcasting:

The Attorneys General of Oregon and Washington are asking state lawmakers to make public documents more accessible.

A pair of bills in Salem and a hearing Thursday in Olympia come in response to critics who say obtaining government records is too expensive and takes too long.

Oregon Attorney General John Kroger wants to create strict deadlines for public agencies to respond to records requests.

His proposal would also cap the amount that agencies can charge, and it would reduce the types of information that are exempt from public disclosure requirements.

Read the rest here.

Oregon's Public Employee Retirement System will go to court to try to keep pension benefit records secret

from Oregonlive.com:

Oregon's Public Employee Retirement System is going to court to try to overturn a decision by the state's top lawyer and keep the names and pension benefits of its best-paid retirees a secret.

The case spotlights a potential showdown between Attorney General John Kroger, who is pushing for more government transparency, and state agencies, which observers say had greater discretion to withhold information under Kroger's predecessor, Hardy Myers.

Earlier this month, Kroger released a report identifying shortfalls in Oregon's public records laws and agencies' compliance with them. Tony Green, a spokesman for Kroger, said the Department of Justice is preparing legislation "that will significantly overhaul the public records law to encourage greater transparency and greater public access to their government."

Read more here.

Court of Appeals rules some concealed-handgun permit lists are public records

Oregon, June 23, 2010 -- Some lists bearing the names of holders of concealed-handgun permits must be disclosed under the state public-records law, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled.

The case arose when the Mail Tribune newspaper in Medford and others sought to obtain lists of people with those permits in 2007. But Sheriff Mike Winters declined to make public the records of an estimated 6,500 permit holders in Jackson County, prompting the lawsuit.

A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals upheld a 2008 circuit court ruling in favor of the newspaper.

Read more here.

Investigative Records into Six-Year-Old's Suicide Withheld

The Yamhill County, Oregon, district attorney denied access to records of a police investigation into the death of a 6-year-old girl. The medical examiner concluded the child committed suicide, while the police detectives believed the death was an accident. The district attorney said there was no evidence of abuse or foul play.

The McMinnville Police Department refused to release the investigation documents on grounds that the public records law allows documents to be withheld if releasing them would be a "highly offensive" invasion. District Attorney Brad Berry refused to release the documents on grounds that the public interest fails to outweigh the invasion of personal privacy to the family of Samantha Kuberski.

State Department of Human Services officials say the girl is thought to be the youngest person to ever commit suicide in Oregon.

For details of how the child died, click here.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Oregon Attorney General John Kroger has appointed an attorney to be a full-time public records chief who will develop a statewide standard for releasing government documents, and instead of requiring a $25 fee, Kroger has placed a citizens guide to using public records law and the Attorney General's Public Records and Meetings Manual online. These moves signal greater efforts to improved government transparency.

But, at the same time, Kroger has also signaled his office will no longer confirm or deny open investigations on civil matters involving businesses accused of consumer fraud.

For more information, click here.

Disclosure of Concealed-Handgun Permits Weighed by Oregon Court of Appeals

Attorneys have argued the case pending before the Oregon Court of Appeals to decide whether Oregon's sheriffs must disclose the holder of concealed-handgun permits under the state's public records law. The lower court ruled in favor of the newspaper and openness of public records. There is no deadline for the court to render its decision.

The case stems from the Mail Tribune's request to obtain the list of people with concealed-handgun permits in 2007. The Jackson County sheriff refused to make the records public, arguing that privacy concerns weighed against disclosure. An attorney for the sheriff said he was asserting a right of privacy for the permit holders, asserting it may be "stigmatizing" for permit holders to have that information made public.

The Mail Tribune's attorney disagrees and argues that the concealed-handgun permit form at the time contained an acknowledgement that the information was subject to state public records law.

Click here for more info.

Oh Come On... From the You-Can't-Be-Serious Files Comes This Absurdity from Oregon

Check out this blog post -- It reports the absurdity of the Oregon attorney general's claim of copyright protection over a state-produced guide to using public records.

Let's see if the AG has the gall to go after Professor Bill Harbaugh of the University of Oregon, who has posted a copy of the guidebook on his website!

iPods on fire, literally

FOI at Work!
KIRO-TV obtained more than 800 pages of Consumer Product Safety Commission documents detailing iPod-related injuries, including at least 15 incidents of overheating and burning, FOX News reported. The TV station said it took seven months to obtain the documents due to exemptions filed by Apple lawyers. The station requested the information after hearing how an iPod caused a "penny-sized burn" on the chest of Jamie Balderas of Arlington, Wash.

In a report posted on its Web site Tuesday, KIRO-TV says it used the Freedom of Information Act to get more than 800 pages of Consumer Product Safety Commission documents regarding iPod-related injuries and property damage.

Within the documents were details of at least 15 separate incidents where iPods overheated, sparked, smoked, caused burns or caught fire, KIRO-TV said.

The station became interested when Jamie Balderas of Arlington, Wash., was mystified by a penny-sized burn on her chest in Nov. 2008.

More here.

Handgun bill passes Ore. House

A bill that would exempt handgun permit information from Oregon's open records law passed the state House and moves on to the Senate, the AP reported. The bill would allow local sheriffs to decide appeals to open the information on a case-by-case basis.

The Oregon House has overwhelmingly approved a bill to limit public release of information about concealed handgun permit holders.

The measure was endorsed Monday after supporters said making that information public would jeopardize the personal safety of concealed handgun permit holders.

The issue came up after news organizations and others sought to obtain lists of people with those permits.

More here.

Reworked gun permit bill wins House approval

The Oregon House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a gun license bill, The Register-Guard reported. The bill was revised so that instead of classifying concealed handgun licenses as a flat exemption, it allows sheriffs to release the records if there is "clear and convincing evidence that the public interest requires disclosure."

Records on Oregonians who hold concealed handgun licenses would be kept confidential unless a county sheriff decides to make them available, under a bill passed by a House panel Wednesday.

For most of the 20 years since the 1989 law allowing Oregonians to obtain a license to carry a concealed handgun was enacted, the question of whether records on those license holders should be made public was not a matter of debate.

That all changed last April, when the Jackson County Circuit Court ruled that the names of individuals who request a concealed handgun license are public records unless the individuals specify that they don’t want any personal information released.

More here.

Ore. mayor's office tries to charge $1.5 million to pull records

When KATU in Portland, Ore., initially asked for Mayor Sam Adams' phone, calendar and e-mail records, the mayor said other media outlets had requested them so "they're around already." Soon after, KATU received estimates of more than $1.5 million to receive the public records. ("According to the Office of Management and Finance, it would take a single employee 10 years to get the records.") A new estimate of $194.03 was later provided, but KATU has yet to get the records.

In Oregon, public records are open to everyone and in many cases are free.

So when KATU received a quote of $1.5 million from the city to pull public records from Mayor Sam Adams' office, you can imagine the sticker shock.

It all started weeks ago when the mayor issued a public apology over the scandal involving his relationship with a young intern. During the press conference, KATU requested Adams' phone, calendar and e-mail records from the spring of 2005, when the then city commissioner was developing a relationship with 17-year-old Beau Breedlove.

More here.

Bill to close gun permit records gains support from sheriffs, legislators

Oregon legislators, sheriffs and gun-owner groups are rounding support for a bill that would exempt lists of concealed handgun permits from state public records laws, the AP reported.

Sheriffs around Oregon have been sending an unusual letter to holders of concealed weapons permits with this message: If you don't want the public to know you've got a permit, we'll try to help you out.

The letter from the sheriffs says newspapers and others are trying to get lists of people who have concealed handgun permits, sparking a legal challenge that's pending in the Oregon Court of Appeals.

And as the appeals court mulls the issue, Oregon lawmakers are pursuing legislation to take those records completely out of public view by prohibiting their release under the Oregon public records law.

More here.

Ore. professor becomes next citizen asking states to follow Obama's lead

University of Oregon economics professor Bill Harbaugh called for Oregon Attorney General John Kroger to specify how long state officials have to respond to public records requests. Most states have a five-day standard but Oregon law doesn't mention a deadline.

Oregon Attorney General John Kroger is being urged to change the way state agencies respond to public information requests.

University of Oregon economics professor Bill Harbaugh says the state's public records laws are "horrible," but can be fixed immediately.

In an op-ed published Friday on the left-leaning blog Blue Oregon, Harbaugh said just as U.S. President Barack Obama overhauled the federal Freedom of Information Act, Oregon's attorney general can similarly ease access to the state's public documents.

More here.

Oregon University Contracts With Sports Marketers: A Trade Secret?

Oregon and Oregon State's multimillion-dollar sports marketing contracts are trade secrets and can be hidden from public view, Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers said this week.

In a nine-page opinion released late Monday, Myers' office upheld both universities' contention that they could keep the amounts of their sports broadcast and marketing rights contracts confidential under the state public records law. The confidentiality helps them maintain a business advantage over marketing contractors and other schools, the opinion said.

"The state has an economic interest in maximizing payments made to its universities pursuant to sports marketing contracts," Deputy Attorney General Peter Shepherd wrote. "In sum, would-be contractors who know exactly what the UO or OSU agreed to accept in the past might offer less than they otherwise would have offered."

Shepherd said that because private marketing firms do business with scores of other universities, "the UO's negotiators will be at a disadvantage if they cannot offer would-be contractors protection for 'trade secrets.' "

Earlier this month, The Oregonian petitioned Myers after both schools released past and present sports media marketing contracts but blacked out the guaranteed annual amounts each receives, along with other financial benefits. Each cited an exemption under the Oregon Public Records Law that keeps trade secrets confidential.

"The Oregonian's role is to get as much information as possible in front of the public," said Sandy Rowe, editor of The Oregonian. "The university's refusal to release the information is surprising and disheartening since it has selectively released some information, and other colleges seem willing to share this information with the public."

Arizona, Arizona State, Washington, Washington State and California released similar contracts to The Oregonian without blacking out their amounts. Many other college's sports marketing contracts have been reported publicly.

More here.