North Carolina County Seeks to Remove Public Officials from Online Property Database

Mecklenburg County wants the public to use an online survey to weigh in on a debate over access to public officials' tax information online.

Arguing that it is too easy for violent criminals to find out where public officials live, some North Carolina county and federal officials sent a letter to county commissioners asking them to allow law enforcement employees to remove their names from the county's online database.

But officials say the property search tool would have to be removed in its entirety, instead of selectively removing a few names. Property would have to be searched online using only addresses or parcel numbers, but not owner names if the search tool were removed.

Read more 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.

Oklahoma Bill Would Exempt Government Employees' Birth Dates from Public Disclosure

An Oklahoma state legislator has filed a bill that would exempt government employees' birth dates from the state Open Records Act, which critics say would make it virtually impossible to identify state employees and determine if they have committed crimes, avoided taxes, filed for bankruptcy or made political contributions.

The Oklahoman has reported that more than 250 Oklahoma City and Oklahoma County employees match those of registered sex offenders, though the paper isn't able to confirm identities because city and county officials have refused to disclose their employees' birth dates.

The state attorney general recently opined that birth dates are presumed open and may only be withheld on a case-by-case basis upon a showing that the disclosure would amount to an unwarranted invasion of privacy.

Read more about the proposed legislation here.

A Terrible Setback in West Virginia

The West Virginia Supreme Court ruled that public officials and employees can keep their person emails secret.

The Associated Press had sued to gain access to 13 emails between former Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard and Massey Energy chief Don Blankenship, but the court ruled 4-1 that none of the emails are public records.

Justice Robin Davis quoted an Arizona Supreme Court decision noting that the definition of a public record "does not encompass documents of a purely private or personal nature."

More here.

Trying to Keep Up with Technology

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum's trying to keep pace with technology. Following the scandal surrounding three members of the Florida Public Service Commission who gave their Blackberry PIN numbers to lobbyists, which could mean communications sent outside the state record-keeping channels, McCollum proposed a measure encouraging state agencies to begin capturing any state-related communications that staff or officials receive via text messages.

For more information, click here.

Update - Florida Public Service Commission to Face Grand Jury Investigation

Following up with a story we told you about the potential PIN-to-PIN messaging being used by Florida utility executives and Public Service Commission (PSC) members to avoid a paper trail, the Miami Herald reports a PSC lobbyist resigned in the midst of the controversy and Commissioner Nancy Argenziano has called for a grand jury investigation into any influence on the PSC from utility companies.

Get the full scoop here.

Information about Wisconsin Judges and District Attorneys Kept Secret

A change to a bill intended to increase government transparency does the opposite with regard to information about property owned by Wisconsin judges and district attorneys.

The Wisconsin Assembly's Committee on Judiciary and Ethics approved the change to the bill, which allows the state Government Accountability Board to post annual economic interest statements of public officials online.

But the property information of judges and district attorneys would be kept secret on grounds of safety concerns.

Members of the public seeking the annual economic interest statements must provide their names and addresses when making the request.

Read the full story from the Journal Sentinel here.

Two Different Approaches to Email Use During City Council Meetings

First, let's start with an example of what not to do, brought to us by Seattle's komonews.com:

A Kirkland City, Washington city council member has admitted to using city email for personal use, including lewd conversations with his girlfriend. Discovered during a records request from conservative watchdog group, Evergreen Freedom Foundation, Bob Sternoff's emails reveal he was having racy conversations with his girlfriend while city council was in session.

The Kirkland City council voted to have a law firm investigate the emails, but they could stand a lesson from South Haven in southwest Michigan.

South Haven City Clerk Amanda Morgan addressed the City Council regarding the need for a new policy regarding electronic communications during meetings, including emails between council members and city residents.

In an effort to comply with the spirit of the Michigan Open Meetings Act, the proposed new policy is to discourage email use during the meetings and to use an "office assistant" feature to direct incoming emails to the city clerk during city meetings. Others suggest the policy doesn't go far enough and that emailing during a public meeting should be outlawed.

Mo. Sunshine amendment defeated in House

An amendment that would have clarified how Missouri defines a public official was defeated in the House of Representatives, The Daily News reported. The definition would have included all state elected officials and private individuals when working in a public capacity. Amendments that were affirmed include requirements that all elected officials go through a Sunshine Law course and that some internal police investigation records be opened.

The Missouri House of Representatives narrowly defeated an amendment on Tuesday that would have added clarification to Missouri’s open records law.

The amendment, offered by Rep. Jake Zimmerman, D-Olivette, was defeated by a 81-79 margin that was largely a party line vote. Nine Republicans joined the vote; all but two Democrats voted in favor of the amendment. The amendment would have clarified the definition of a public official to include all state elected officials and private individuals records when working in a public capacity.

Four other amendments were approved by a voice vote.

More here.