Neb. bill would hide internal audit documents from public

The University of Nebraska is pushing a bill that would keep some documents generated during university internal audits from the public eye, the Associated Press reported. The university says the measure is needed to protect the identity of whistleblowers, but the the state auditor and government watchdog groups are concerned about the secrecy.

Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley and government watchdog group Common Cause are among those concerned that a bill being pushed by the University of Nebraska would keep residents in the dark.

Under the measure (LB674) from Sen. Danielle Nantkes of Lincoln, some documents generated during internal audits conducted by the university would not be considered public.

University officials said the bill is primarily needed to ensure the names of whistleblowers are kept secret to encourage them to come forward. Under an amendment to the bill, they said that public documents would not be made private once they became part of an audit.

More here.

Open-government bill goes to S.D. House

A bill that would assume all government records are public records unless they are exempted by law or rule has been endorsed by a South Dakota House Committee and now goes to the full House for vote, the Associated Press reported.

A South Dakota House committee has endorsed a measure that declares all government records are open to the public unless a law or rule specifically closes them.

SB147 was approved earlier by the Senate.

The House State Affairs Committee voted unanimously to pass the bill after approving some changes that were negotiated by lawmakers, the governor's office and representatives of news organizations.

More here.

Obama approves $1 million for FOIA ombudsman

The Bush administration provided no funding for the new Office of Government Information Services and attempted to relocate it under the Justice Department, which defends the government FOIA decisions, Columbia Journalism Review reported. The good news, however, is that Obama's budget provides $1 million to the new office, which is likely to be up and running by the end of the year in the National Archives, instead.

The budget President Obama just signed includes one million dollars for the new Office of Government Information Services, which will be housed in the National Archives that is charged with serving as a government wide ombudsman for the Freedom of Information Act process.

Gary Stern, the Archives’ general counsel, speaking in January before a Washington College of Law-sponsored conference on freedom of information, made it clear that the agency was expecting an initial appropriation of that amount, and said that most of the funds would go towards the office’s director and a half dozen support staff.

The Bush administration had, despite the explicit intent of congress, signed a quiet budget provision in an attempt to put the office within the branch of the Justice Department charged with defending the government’s FOIA decisions, and provided it with no funding. Outside advocates and members of Congress members who’d worked on creating OGIS not surprisingly viewed this as a rather naked conflict of interest and an attempt to neuter the office.

More here.

E-mails reveal Pelosi staffers impatient about aircraft

FOI at Work!
E-mails obtained through an FOIA request indicate no illegal actions but impatience about the type of aircraft available to Nancy Pelosi, Politico.com reported. The report created by Judicial Watch, which filed the request, also says Pelosi and her staff "frequently made demands on Air Force personnel and often canceled on short notice, costing the military an unspecified amount." Pelosi's spokesperson said the Department of Defense dictates the type and availability of aircraft.

The good-government group Judicial Watch has released a batch of unflattering e-mails, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, that show staffers for Nancy Pelosi kvetching about access to official aircraft.

The group, which has investigated politicians from both parties in recent years, isn’t alleging illegality — just petulance.

Pelosi’s office is pushing back, saying the type of plane she uses is dictated by the demands of a transcontinental flight — and the House sergeant-at-arms’ security concerns associated with refueling a smaller plane.

More here.

City of Venice admits Sunshine violations in settlement

In its settlement, the City of Venice, Fla. agreed to adopt measures that include a "mandatory annual training program for elected and appointed officials and a ban on the use by such officials of private e-mail accounts to conduct City business." The City will also pick up attorneys' fees.

On the eve of Sunshine Week celebrations across the nation, and after nine months of contentious litigation, the City of Venice voted today to accept a settlement agreement in a precedent- setting open government case. In the summer of 2008, activist Anthony Lorenzo and Citizens for Sunshine brought a lawsuit centering upon the deletion of e-mails and the alleged use by elected officials of liaisons, in-person meetings, and private e-mail accounts to circumvent Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine Law. Early in the litigation the trial judge took the unusual step of ordering a forensic examination of the home computers of the Mayor, Vice-Mayor and a Councilmember after plaintiffs’ attorneys presented evidence of widespread violations of the Public Records Law. The lawsuit later survived repeated attempts by the defendants to have the claims dismissed prior to trial, which had been scheduled to begin on February 23 before being postponed due to the proposed settlement.

Under the settlement agreement, the City admits to violations of both the Sunshine and the Public Records laws and accepts the imposition of broad remedial requirements to ensure the preservation of public records and uphold the constitutional requirement that public business be conducted in the Sunshine. The settlement also requires the City to pay substantial attorneys fees, as mandated by the Public Records and Sunshine Laws.

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Congressional data mining could be on its way

A provision that would Congress and its bodies to release data in raw form was slipped into a spending bill passed by the House of Representatives, Mother Jones reported. If the Senate doesn't edit out the three-sentence statement, the public will no longer have to rely on government Web sites, which filter the data they provide. Some Web sites already use remix raw data to create databases and charts, but they must "scrape" government sites to obtain this data -- a process that is cumbersome and not perfect.

By slipping a simple, three-sentence provision into the gargantuan spending bill passed by the House of Representatives last week, a congressman from Silicon Valley is trying to nudge Congress into the 21st Century. Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) placed a measure in the bill directing Congress and its affiliated organs—including the Library of Congress and the Government Printing Office—to make its data available to the public in raw form. This will enable members of the public and watchdog groups to craft websites and databases showcasing government data that are more user-friendly than the government's own.

If the Senate passes the bill with the provision intact, citizens seeking information about Congress' activities—such as bill names and numbers, amendments, votes, and committee reports—won't have to rely on government websites, which often filter information, are incomplete, or are difficult to use. Instead, the underlying data will be available to anyone who wants to build a superior site or tool to sift through it. "The language is groundbreaking in that it supports providing unfiltered legislative information to the public," says Honda's online communications director, Rob Pierson. "Instead of silo-ing the information, and only allowing access through a limited web form, access to the raw data will make it easier for people to learn what their government is doing."

More here.

Troopers illegally shoot deer, try to win prize

FOI at Work!

The Traverse City Record-Eagle obtained investigative reports concerning a deer shot illegally by a Michigan State Police trooper from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources via an FOI request. The records show that Jeffrey Hadley and Donald Bolen shot the buck while on duty. They later loaded it into the back of the patrol vehicle, sawed off its head and antlers and discarded the rest of the animal. They claimed the blood and hair in the back of the patrol car stemmed from them transporting a road-kill deer to a needy family. Hadley later tried to enter the deer's rack in a troopers' big-buck contest.

A Michigan State Police trooper who illegally "shined" and shot a 10-point buck while on duty in a state patrol vehicle tried to enter the ill-gotten deer's antlers in a troopers' big-buck contest.

Troopers and patrol partners Jeffrey Hadley, 45, and Donald Bolen, 41, both of Cheboygan, illegally killed a buck sometime after midnight on Nov. 13 -- two days before the firearms deer season -- along Mograin Road in Cheboygan County's Benton Township.

The poaching incident kick-started the troopers' clumsy, six-week attempt to cover their tracks, though Hadley spent part of that time boasting of his monster buck and attempted to enter its rack in a contest.

More here.

W. Va. county clerk withholds names of petition signers

The Shepherdstown Observer is suing the Jefferson County Clerk after it refused to release the names of signatures on a petition related to a zoning change referendum, the West Virginia Record reported. The newspaper requested the documents after learning that about 18 percent of the signatures were deemed invalid.

The Shepherdstown Observer newspaper has filed a lawsuit against the Jefferson County Clerk over her refusal to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request.

The Observer says it wanted to see documents related to a petition gathered to spur a referendum on a zoning change passed by the county commission. The change was passed in Oct. 2008, according to the newspaper's complaint filed Feb. 11.

The petition is allowed by law to challenge the zoning change. Ten-percent of registered voters in the affected area have to sign the petition to prompt the referendum vote.

More here.

Ark. House supports concealed handgun bill

An Arkansas bill to exempt records regarding concealed-carry permits from the state FOIA cleared a House committee and will now advance to the full House, where support is widespread, Arkansas News reported.

A bill to prohibit the release of the names and other information of Arkansans who hold permits to carry concealed handguns cleared a House committee Thursday.

House Bill 1623 by Rep. Randy Stewart, D-Kirby, received a “do pass” from the House Judiciary Committee. The bill would make records regarding concealed-carry permits exempt from the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Stewart, a former Olympic shooter, filed the bill after a weekly newspaper made a list of the names and addresses of permit holders in the state available on its Web site last month.

More here.

Missouri Roundtable for Life says Carnahan never responded to requests

Missouri Roundtable for Life says it filed three separate Sunshine Law requests and did not receive any response from Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, KMBC-TV (Kansas City) reported. Carnahan's office, however, says it responded to two requests it received from the group, which has filed a Sunshine Law complaint against Carnahan.

Missouri Roundtable for Life (MRFL) filed a Sunshine Law complaint against Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.

The group said the complaint was filed because Carnahan failed to respond to the three separate Sunshine Law requests made by MRFL that accompanied three new initiative petitions on Feb. 19, 2009.

Under the Sunshine Law, Carnahan is required to notify a party within three working days of how it is going about handling the Sunshine Law request.

More here.

Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas names new executive director

Keith Elkins, a veteran TV news journalist will lead the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, which has relocated to Austin and seeks to have a more active advocacy role, the "News McNabb" blog reported.

The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas (FOIFT) is pleased to announce that Keith Elkins has been selected as the organization’s Executive Director. FOIFT recently relocated to Austin, after 30 years in Dallas, and is now embarking on a new mission to assume a more active and more visible role in advocating for, and preserving, open government.

“We are very pleased to have FOIFT’s office relocated to Texas’ Capital city where we believe we can make a more significant difference for the citizens of Texas. We are also very excited to announce the selection of a new Executive Director. After a lengthy search process our search committee unanimously recommended Keith Elkins as the best candidate to lead our organization in a new direction,” said President Laura Prather of Austin. “Keith has a deep understanding of and passion for the Public Information laws in Texas and draws from experience on both sides of the aisle on the issues of open government.”

More here.

Text messages are public records, Mich. judge rules

The Detroit Free Press anticipates previewing some 1,400 previously unreleased text messages from former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former aide Christine Beatty on Monday. The messages were requested by the newspaper after prosecutors used them for Beatty's perjury case. Wayne County Circuit Judge Timothy Kenny denied Kilpatrick and Beatty's right to assert a marital privilege, attorney-client privilege or deliberative-process privilege since the text messages were sent on city-issued pagers.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Timothy Kenny has ruled that former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former aide Christine Beatty have no right to assert a legal privilege that would allow them to keep previously undisclosed text messages secret.

Kenny is giving lawyers for Kilpatrick and Beatty until Monday to appeal.

"This court does not see the existence of a valid privilege that can be asserted by Ms. Beatty or Mr. Kilpatrick at this juncture," said Kenny, in ordering the release of some 1,400 text messages held by prosecutors and previously under seal.

More here.

Details of bailout loans remain a secret

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York provides select members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors the daily reports on bailout loans that journalists have been asking for, Bloomberg reported. Bloomberg has suited for records which mostly exist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which claims it isn't subject to FOIA. The Board of Governors now has 231 pages of these documents; however, it is using a trade secret exemption to prevent releasing the data to the public.

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors receives daily reports on bailout loans to financial institutions and won’t make the information public, the central bank said in a reply to a Bloomberg News lawsuit.

The Fed refused yesterday to disclose the names of the borrowers and the loans, alleging that it would cast “a stigma” on recipients of more than $1.9 trillion of emergency credit from U.S. taxpayers and the assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.

Fed secrecy was the focus of a Senate Banking Committee hearing today in which the panel’s top two members said the central bank’s reluctance to identify companies benefiting from the American International Group Inc. bailout risks undermining public confidence in the government.

More here.

W. Va. chemical plant halts briefing on fatal accident

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board planned to brief the public on a 2008 explosion at a chemical plant run by Bayer CropScience; however, those plans changed when plant operators argued that information related to the investigation is considered "sensitive security information," Secrecy News reported. Bayer refers to the Maritime Transportation Security Act, but Secrecy News points out that this act only says certain facility security data "is not required to be disclosed to the public," NOT that disclosure is prohibited. Coast Guard regulations that protect plant information don't apply to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board.

Government safety investigators canceled a public briefing about an August 28, 2008 explosion that killed two persons at a chemical plant in Institute, West Virginia after operators of the plant said that public discussion of the accident could jeopardize "sensitive security information."

Bayer CropScience, which runs the plant, told the U.S. Chemical Safety Board that relevant information about the plant is protected from public disclosure under the terms of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002, as interpreted by U.S. Coast Guard regulations.

The Board, which is an independent federal agency that investigates industrial accidents, canceled the March 19 public meeting while it seeks to evaluate the Bayer secrecy claims. See "Board Cancels Hearing Under Bayer Pressure" by Ken Ward, Jr., The Charleston Gazette, February 25, 2009.

More here.

New FOI blog created by Conn. attorney

Attorney Mark Dumas has created a new blog on Connecticut Freedom of Information and open-government laws. So far, his posts have offered insight on hidden costs associated with FOI requests and provided links to great resources and state coverage of open-government issues.

Visit the Connecticut Freedom of Information Law Blog here.

N. M. House approves bill to okay requests via e-mail

Should it really matter whether an FOI request is filed via e-mail or paper? The New Mexico House doesn't think so, the New Mexico Independent reported.

The New Mexico House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill Wednesday that would make an e-mail the legal equivalent of a paper request for public documents.

The legislation is needed because some state agencies in the past have not accepted e-mails as a legally acceptable way to request documents.

A similar bill that would accomplish much the same thing, and shorten the period a public agency has to respond to a request for information, has been delayed. That bill, sponsored by House Majority Leader Ken Martinez, D-Grants, was larded with exemptions to the state’s public records act.

More here.

Children of Central Arkansas trustees get tuition breaks

FOI at work!

As a result of an FOI request, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette learned that five current or former trustees of the University of Central Arkansas received tuition discounts for their children. This could present a conflict of interest, and officials are asking that this practice as least be made transparent and put in writing.

The children of trustees of the University of Central Arkansas have received up to 80-percent discounts on their tuition and fees, the Associated Press reports. Although the tuition breaks appear to be legal, according to a lawyer cited by the AP, trustees do not typically benefit from their board positions.

The discounts could be perceived as gifts, said Jim Purcell, the Arkansas higher-education director, according to the AP. They could also present a conflict of interest for trustees, who set policy for the institutions they serve.

In response to Freedom of Information Act requests from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, which first reported the discounts, the university named five current or former trustees who received discounts for their children’s tuition and fees.

More here.

Former Gov. Matt Blunt will not face criminal charges

Investigators concluded that former Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt's office "did not have adequate policies regarding record retention and state open-records law," the Kansas City Star reported. However, the violations are not considered criminal. Blunt's lawyers said the investigators' report contained “flawed factual assumptions and conclusions.” It's still unknown whether anyone in his administration ordered e-mail backup tapes to be destroyed or not.

A 16-month investigation concluded that former Gov. Matt Blunt’s office did not follow all laws on retaining public records, but investigators decided the violations were not criminal.

The report is the latest word, but likely not the last, on the issue that surrounded Blunt from late 2007 until he left office in January.

A defamation and wrongful termination lawsuit is pending brought by fired administration attorney Scott Eckersley, who contends he was terminated after challenging his superiors’ position on open records.

More here.

Records show Ill. governor is 'thrifty'

Illinois Gov Pat Quinn's travel records show he personally paid for most of his overseas trips (to visit the troops) and didn't accept a meal allowance when he was lieutenant governor, the AP reported.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's penny-pinching reputation was bolstered his first day in office when he flashed a cut-rate hotel's preferred customer card.

An Associated Press review of state travel records backs him up.

Quinn never accepted the $32 daily meal allowance for state travelers during six years as lieutenant governor. He often pays his own lodging, too.

More here.

More Texans drinking away their worries at home these days

FOI at Work!

Figures obtained through an FOI request indicate that more Texas establishments are late in paying their alcohol suppliers, the Dallas Morning News reported. Some of the 23,000 late payers last year obviously struggled with dwindling sales due to the economy. Others say the state law that requires alcohol payments to be made by the 10th or 25th of the month offers a short window to settle their debts, which raises bookkeeping problems.

Hundreds of Texas restaurants and bars have begun running up stout bar tabs with their alcohol suppliers as cash-poor consumers drown their sorrows at home.

For 2008, the number of restaurants, bars and liquor stores behind in their payments to alcohol suppliers leaped more than 18 percent over the 2007 total. That's according to figures from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The commission counted nearly 23,000 late payers last year. The growth rate was more than double the 7 percent rise between 2006 and 2007.

More here.

Newspaper under fire for story based on police report

Although newspapers have a "fair report privilege" ensuring their liable for printing potentially false information they obtained from police reports, a Houston lawyer says an Arkansas newspaper did not proceed responsibly in this case, the AP reported. The article in question centers around a woman who reported that she had been raped at Ryan Whiteside's house. Whiteside had been connected with the high-profile murder case of an Arkansas beauty queen in 2005. The Arkansas Supreme Court will hear his case against The Courier newspaper, which ran a front-page story on the rape accusation, which was later dismissed.

The slaying of an Arkansas beauty queen still dominated talk around Russellville when an 18-year-old woman told police she had been raped at the home of one of the men who discovered the murder victim's body.

The woman said she didn't remember everything that happened at Ryan Whiteside's house, but was sure she awoke next to Kevin Jones, who later was acquitted in Nona Dirksmeyer's death.

Arkansas State Police troopers investigated and dismissed the woman's allegations — a fact not disclosed until after the local newspaper ran a Page One story detailing the accusations against two men already involved in the high-profile murder case.

More here.

Calif. considers limiting Internet mapping sites

Clearly, maps such as Google Earth and Microsoft's Virtual Earth aren't the only places one can find photos of schools, hospitals, churches and government buildings. But a California lawmaker is concerned that the ready availability of these images may assist terrorists and has proposed that restrictions be placed on certain images.

A California lawmaker wants to force Internet mapping services to blur detailed images of schools, hospitals, churches and all government buildings, reviving a debate over whether such images can assist terrorists.

Assemblyman Joel Anderson, a San Diego-area Republican, said he decided to introduce his bill after reading that terrorists who plotted attacks in Israel and India used popular services such as Google Earth and Microsoft 's Virtual Earth.

But even if his bill becomes law, it might be difficult to prohibit Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and other mapping companies from posting such photographs. That's because those images already are public and often are posted on the institution's own Web site.

More here.

Campaign to rid universities of Coca-Cola makes use of FOI

Ingenious use of FOI:

The Texas Campaign to Stop Killer Coke’s University Open Records Project is an endeavor to obtain all of the Coca-Cola contracts between Texas state universities and colleges through the use of the Texas Open Records Act, a.k.a. Public Information Act, Chapter 552 of the Government Code. This project was undertaken with an eye towards organizing around the greater Killer Coke movement in Texas. The goal of the Campaign is to kick Coke out of our schools, businesses and governmental agencies for it’s worldwide labor, human rights and environmental abuses. See killercoke.org for more information.

More here.

New Penn. law coming in handy

Media outlets and citizens in Pennsylvania are realizing that the state's new Right to Know Law is providing more records than the last version, The Morning Call reported. The previous law didn't assume that most records are public. The state open records office has 100 pending appeals to review. So far it has overturned three of six appeals.

Early evidence shows Pennsylvania's new Right to Know Law is doing what it's designed to, giving the public more access to records that show how governments are behaving and spending tax money.

Last week, the state open records office posted rulings on its first six appeals. In three cases, one in Quakertown, it ruled governments must provide information they initially refused to release.

Governments could have kept the information secret under the old Right to Know law in two of those cases, said Barry Fox, deputy director of open records.

More here.

Transparency portal proposed but unpopular in Ill.

Illinois state Rep. Michael Tryon is urging the government "to create a Web site with a searchable database containing information about contracts, expenditures and employee salaries," The State (Ill.) Journal-Register reported. However, the legislative director for Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees said some lower paid employees feel "sort of like their laundry's being aired." In other Illinois ethics news, the executive inspector general for agencies under the governor's office wants the law changed so that he and other inspectors won't have to wait for complaints to be filed in order to investigate anonymous tips.

Spurred by the Dec. 9 arrest of then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, officials inside and outside of state government are studying ways to battle government corruption.

GateHouse Media’s State Capitol Bureau is tracking their work and examining the issues that arise at public hearings of the legislature’s Joint Committee on Government Reform. The idea is to help readers understand attempts to fix state government and make it run in a way that better serves the public.

Last Tuesday, the legislative committee focused for a second time on the topic of “open government.”

More here.

Navy decides to close inspection reports

Inspection reports on the Navy's ships, aircraft carriers and submarines are now classified information, the Navy Times reported. The reason for the change is not yet known.

The Navy has classified regular reports about the material condition of its fleet, an about-face from when the reports were accessible as public documents under the Freedom of Information Act.

The reports, filed by the Board of Inspection and Survey, or InSurv, contain the findings of meticulous, days-long inspections that cover every detail of the workings of surface ships, aircraft carriers and submarines.

In December, InSurv president Rear Adm. Raymond Klein decided the reports were to be classified, said Linda Alvers, the FOIA coordinator for Fleet Forces Command. She said she did not know why. Also unclear was whether the classification order applied only to InSurvs performed after December, or whether it included reports from before then.

More here.

Judge orders fed. govt. to release documents

From the AP:

A judge has ordered the federal government to turn over documents related to the shooting of a fleeing drug smuggler or to explain why it is withholding them. The shooting led to the imprisonment of two Border Patrol agents and later a commutation of their sentences by President George W. Bush. The judge, Richard Leon of Federal District Court, acted in response to a suit by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, which got no response from the Departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security after filing Freedom of Information Act requests two years ago for records relating to the smuggler, Osvaldo Aldrete Davila. Judicial Watch says it wants the government’s records to answer questions about the prosecution of the agents and how regularly the Justice Department offers immunity to drug smugglers to help prosecute law enforcement officers.

More here.

How do you define 'interview'?

The University of Nebraska released the records of all candidates interviewed for the university's presidency after a ruling by the attorney general, the Nebraska City News-Press reported. The university had released information on its four finalists but not other candidates who weren't selected as finalists but did participate in informal "interviews." Information on applicants who agree to be interviewed for public jobs is public record. However, the university didn't consider the informal "interviews" to fall under this law.

The University of Nebraska must make public the records of job applicants who are screened in face-to-face meetings, the state's attorney general said in an 2004 opinion.

Attorney General Jon Bruning ordered the University of Nebraska, a public university, to disclose the names of eight candidates it interviewed for the school's presidency. Within hours, university officials complied with the order, which had been requested by the Omaha World-Herald , the Lincoln Journal Star and The Associated Press.

The university had previously made public the records of its four finalists for the presidency, but refused to release information pertaining to four other candidates who were interviewed by its search committee but not officially named "finalists" for the job.

More here.

Texas Supreme Court to decide if birth dates are public records

The Texas Supreme Court is waiting to see if state lawmakers will pass a bill that would exempt state employees' birth dates from the state's public records laws, the AP reported. If lawmakers don't, the court has decided it will hear the case. Journalists argue that without birth dates, it's nearly impossible to distinguish between employees with the same name. Texas Comptroller Susan Combs' office is concerned that the release of such information will lead to identify theft.

The Texas Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider whether state employees' birth dates are public information or must be shielded under a right to privacy.

Media and freedom of information advocates say birth dates are necessary to distinguish employees who may have the same name. Texas Comptroller Susan Combs' office has said they should be private under common law and the state Constitution.

The court did not set a date when it would hear arguments, suggesting it would wait to see if state lawmakers will write an exception for date-of-birth information into state public records laws. Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, has already filed such a bill.

More here.

Changes to N.M. open government bill 'cripple' it

A New Mexico bill promoting transparency has turned sour for open-government advocates, The Santa Fe New Mexican reported. The proposed bill was intended to reduce the time agencies have to produce the information from FOI requests (from 15 days to 10) and clarify that requests can be made via e-mail. The bill's sponsor, Ken Martinez, is now trying to restore the bill after a substitute by the House Health and Government Affairs Committee stripped out the quicker-release provision and added in new exemptions, which would allow the denial of public records to someone a public body is in litigation with. The exemptions tend to be broad, such as exempting "records of a public body, that, by their nature, must be confidential in order for the public body to avoid the frustration or a legitimate government function."

Open-government and press advocates say proposed new exemptions to the state's public records law have made a good government bill turn bad.

House Bill 507, sponsored by House Majority Leader Ken Martinez, D-Grants, aimed to speed up the response time for getting public records, as well as make clear that e-mail can be used to make a formal request under the act.

But a committee substitute for the measure being pushed by executive agencies under the Richardson administration stripped out the quicker-release-of-records provision from the bill. Meanwhile, the new bill would create new exemptions to the Inspection of Public Records Act — changes that Martinez cannot support and never intended.

More here.

Are burial records from a psychiatric hospital cemetery public record?

The Nebraska Supreme Court will decide on this question, the AP reported. Although HIPAA protects medical data, death records are considered public records in Nebraska.

The Nebraska Supreme Court will determine whether people buried in a former psychiatric hospital cemetery took their right to privacy to the grave with them.

The Adams County Historical Society wants names of the 957 people buried in the Hastings Regional Center cemetery between 1909 and 1957 made public.

The state has maintained that the federal medical privacy law prohibits the release of the names.

More here.

Obama reverses media ban on casket photos

The new policy on photographs of fallen troops' caskets has not been ironed it, but families will have a choice of media presence at Dover Air Force Base, the AP reported. No timetable has been set for when the new policy will go into effect.

The Obama administration is reversing an 18-year ban on news coverage of the return of war dead, allowing photographs of flag-covered caskets when families of the fallen troops agree, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.

"My conclusion was we should not presume to make the decision for the families," Gates said in announcing results of a quick review of a ban that had stood through Republican and Democratic administrations.

Although details are being worked out, the new policy will give families a choice of whether to admit the press to ceremonies at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, the entry point to the United States for the caskets of overseas war dead.

More here.

Tenn. bill to close handgun records passes House subcommittee

The Tennessee House subcommittee pushed along a bill to close gun-permit application records, The Tennessean reported. Next, the full House Judiciary Committee will discuss the bill, which allows $2,500 fines for disclosing the records.

A House subcommittee passed a series of gun-related bills Wednesday that would allow handgun carry permit holders to carry their guns in restaurants, wildlife areas and state, but not local, parks.

A bill that would close handgun records to the public also passed the House Judiciary Criminal Practice Subcommittee, where about a dozen gun bills were heard. The session was a victory for House Republicans. House Speaker Rep. Kent Williams, an Elizabethton Republican, attended in a show of support for a bill that would allow handguns in wildlife areas.

During the meeting Williams sided with Democratic Rep. Janis Sontany to encourage lawmakers to remove local parks from a bill that would allow handguns in parks throughout the state.

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.

UK Justice Secretary uses Hotmail account for official business, gets hacked

IT PRO reports another example of why officials should not use non-government e-mail accounts.

UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw has been criticised by a security vendor for using a Hotmail account for government business - an account that was subsequently hacked by Nigerian scammers.

Reports said that the fraudsters sent out hundreds of emails carrying the heading ‘The Right Hon Jack Straw MP’ to constituents, government chiefs and council bosses among others.

Mr Straw's adviser could not be reached for comment at the time of publication, but according to the Telegraph, Mr Straw said there were no security issues as the email address of his Blackburn constituency, rather than his ministerial account, was targeted.

More here.

Bill introduced to make online Wash. tax searches possible

A bill introduced in the state Senate would help clear up confusion about Washington's 1,790 taxing districts, Washington Policy Blog reported. The proposed online database would allow citizens to search by address for the types of taxes, tax rates and taxing districts the locations fall under. A tax rate calculator would provide potential taxes (such as property, sales, business, vehicle, etc.) by district.

According to the Washington State Department of Revenue (DOR), as of 2008 there were 1,790 taxing districts in the state whose officials impose various taxes on Washingtonians. Unfortunately for taxpayers, there is no single comprehensive resource available to help individuals and businesses learn which taxing districts and rates they are subject to, and how much officials in each taxing district add to their total tax burden. A typical home, for example, can be located in as many as ten different taxing districts.

To help improve the transparency of state and local taxation, Washington Policy Center proposed last summer the creation of an online searchable database of all tax districts and tax rates in the state. The proposal is modeled after last year’s SB 6818: Promoting transparency in state expenditures, which was unanimously adopted by the legislature and signed into law. SB 6818 was based on WPC's recommendation for the state to adopt a searchable budget website.

More here.

N.M. on route to accepting FOI requests electronically

Although some states already fill requests sent via electronic methods, the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act currently "requires response to 'oral' and 'written' requests for public records," the New Mexico Independent reported. The bill now moves to the House Judiciary Committee.

A bill that would require government agencies in New Mexico to accept requests for public records via e-mail and fax cleared its first hurdle on Tuesday.

House Bill 598, sponsored by state Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, was given a do-pass recommendation by the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on a vote of 6-1, with only state Rep. Zachary Cook, R-Ruidoso, voting against it.

“The citizens in our state should have ready access to government documents without artificial barriers,” Cervantes said following Tuesday’s vote. “E-mail is an integral and accepted means of communication, and no less so than a mailed letter or postcard.”

More here.

Wash. considers bill concerning transparency via the Web

A bill introduced in the state of Washington would help merge citizens and their government via the Internet, The Washington Blog reported. The bill would require meeting agendas to be posted within 72 hours before the start of the meeting (24 hours for special or emergency meetings) as well as the text of any rule or ordinance to be discussed. Meeting minutes would have to be posted within 15 business days.

There has been a lot of talk at the national and state level about bringing government into the 21st Century and taking advantage of technology to help connect citizens with their government. A bill introduced today would put the force of law behind that talk.

Consider the following sections from SB 6098 - Requiring public agencies, special purpose districts, and municipalities to post certain information on their web sites:

(1) The agenda of all regular meetings of the governing body of every public agency, special purpose district, and any municipality that owns or maintains a web site shall be posted within seventy-two hours before a meeting. The agenda of all special or emergency meetings shall be posted within twenty-four hours before a meeting. The posting shall indicate if the agendas are in draft form.

More here.

May soon be easier to recover legal fees in Ark. FOI cases

The Arkansas House will soon vote on a bill that "would require attorneys' fees to be paid by a defendant if a plaintiff 'substantially' prevails in an FOI lawsuit," the AP reported. Winning plaintiffs would have to file a claim with the Arkansas State Claims Commission to recover these legal fees.

Legislation that would make it easier for plaintiffs who win Freedom of Information Act challenges to recover attorneys fees from government officials is headed to the House for a vote.

The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday advanced a proposal that, in most cases, would require attorneys' fees to be paid by a defendant if a plaintiff "substantially" prevails in an FOI lawsuit. The measure by Rep. Lindsley Smith, D-Fayetteville, would not allow courts to force state agencies to pay attorneys' fees in FOI cases.

More here.

Ill. attorney general tries to stop agencies from ignoring FOIA

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan continues pressing for more teeth in the state's FOIA, Legal Newsline reported.

Illinois government agencies should be fined up to $1,000 each time they refuse to allow citizens to view basic public records, the state attorney general says.

Calling for increased transparency in state and local government, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan told state lawmakers Wednesday that reforms are needed so agencies don't shirk their responsibilities under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

Speaking to the recently-formed Joint Committee on Government Reform, the Democratic attorney general said ethics reforms in the Land of Lincoln are well overdue, following the ouster of Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose administration routinely denied media and citizens' requests for basic public documents.

More here.

Debate over release of gun permit databases fires up in Tenn.

For $80.50, the Tennessee Department of Safety will release the name, date of birth, address and permit issue and expiration dates for all gun permit holders. However, obtaining that information may soon be impossible, and printing it may result in a $2,500 fine, the AP reported. A bill to make gun permit databases confidential and publication of them punishable by fines will go before the House Criminal Practice Subcommittee on Wednesday.

Tennessee lawmakers are ready again to try to muzzle state records that list who has a permit to carry a concealed handgun, and this time they are considering making it a crime to publish information about gun ownership.

The measure sponsored by Rep. Eddie Bass, a Democrat from Prospect, would make information on gun permit holders confidential and exempt from the state's open records law. The bill is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday by the House Criminal Practice Subcommittee.

For 12 years, similar legislation has failed to make it to a floor vote, but this year's version has a new twist and a better chance of passage now that Democrats who previously blocked the bill, including former Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, no longer control the House.

More here.

Utah bill to strengthen privacy protection on records gets revised

Utah citizens can argue that the public benefit in releasing a private or protected record outweighs the reasons for closing it. The new version of this bill requires those arguing for the release of "records that would jeopardize the life and safety of an individual" provide "clear and convincing evidence for disclosure." The requestor only has to prove by a "preponderance of the evidence -- or slightly more than 50 percent -- that the records should be made public" for seven other categories of private records, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

A bill that would restrict public access to some government records, cleared the Senate Government Operations Committee on Tuesday after significant changes were made.

"The measure originally sought to prevent the balancing test" weighing public access vs. privacy interests, said Jeff Hunt, an attorney representing the Utah Media Coalition. The coalition initially opposed HB122, which is sponsored by Rep. Douglas Aagard, R-Kaysville, and backed by state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.

When a government record is classified as protected or private, someone can argue that the public benefit of disclosing the information outweighs the need for privacy.

More here.

Unanimous vote for tougher Ind. public records bill

After passing the Senate, a bill that would allow Indiana judges to fine those who blatantly violate public records laws moves to the House, The Indianapolis Star reported.

The Indiana Senate voted 49-0 today for a bill that seeks to put more teeth into Indiana’s public records laws.

Senate Bill 232, sponsored by Sen. Bev Gard, R-Greenfield, now goes to the House for consideration. The bill would allow for people who blatantly violate open records laws to be fined.

More here.

No exemptions for names, birthdays of Pa. contractors

The new Pennsylvania Office of Open Records ruled that names of employees are public records, even if the employees work for government contractors, the AP reported. Government employees' birth dates are also not exempted from the Right-to-Know Law in the state.

Pennsylvania's Office of Open Records says the names of employees of government contractors and the birth dates of government employees are public records.

The new agency said in its first batch of rulings that the names and dates of birth aren't covered by the many exceptions to the state Right-to-Know Law.

The Quakertown Community School District had granted a request to release payroll forms for a subcontractor working on a school renovation project, but redacted the employees' names.

More here.

Coalitions form to track stimulus spending

National Journal Online reports the "growing fiscal oversight craze both on and off Capitol Hill." Thirty groups have "banded together" to create the Coalition for an Accountable Recovery. Another smaller group, Bailout Watch, was spearheaded by OMB Watch. George Mason University has created a "Stimulus Watch" wiki, and House GOP Whip Eric Cantor announced a "stimulus-watch program" encouraging reports on how contractors and agencies spend the $787 billion.

As federal spending on bailouts and the economic stimulus soars into the trillions, the Obama administration faces growing pressure to account for just where all those taxpayer dollars are going.

"To spend that much money that quickly is inviting fraud and abuse," warned Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight. Her group is one of 30 that have banded together to form the new Coalition for an Accountable Recovery. It's a diverse alliance of anti-tax activists, community organizers and government transparency watchdogs all tracking the $787 billion stimulus package.

The coalition of strange bedfellows brings together progressives, libertarians and conservatives, noted Gary D. Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, which co-chairs CAR with Good Jobs First, a policy center promoting accountability in economic development. Other coalition members include the Center for Cities and Schools, Public Citizen and Taxpayers for Common Sense.

More here.

Wash. bill to rein in harassing FOI request may hurt legitimate ones

What's to stop a persistent person with an FOI request from being deemed a harassing one? That's the question concerning many open government advocates, the Seattle Times reports. State officials say some FOI requesters, such as prisoner Allan Parmelee have become nuisances but also on that list is a woman fighting the school district's treatment of her autistic son. One bill could make inspection fees for public records legal in the state, which currently can only charge 15 cents per page if the requester wants copies. Others advocate increasing copying fees and increasing the number of documents made confidential.

Washington's Public Records Act says government documents are available for anyone to scrutinize. From the mayor's e-mails to the governor's travel expenses. All you have to do is ask.

But some people are asking way too much, flooding agencies with costly demands, in some cases just to harass public officials — or at least that's the story being told to the Legislature by cities, school districts, ports and prisons.

They're pushing bills to allow governments to charge higher copying fees, make more documents confidential — even seek court orders to bar requesters' intent in "annoying, tormenting or terrorizing" government workers.

More here.

Nearly $130,000 for 13 days of work?

FOI at Work!
The Times Union in Albany, N.Y., used an FOI request to uncover that the police union president only worked 13 days in 2008. Many of those days were holidays, when the city had to pay him time and a half plus regular pay. When he's away on union business, the city must pay a replacement commander overtime.

Thirteen days.

That's the number of days police union President Lt. Robert Hamilton worked for the city in 2008 when he grossed $129,908 with overtime and retroactive pay, according to city financial records obtained by the Times Union under a Freedom of Information request.

Hamilton spent most of the rest of his time on union business, according to department attendance sheets. Police officials have previously said an officer at the top of the pay scale earned, on average, about $10,000 in back pay resulting from last year's contract settlement, which is included in Hamilton's gross earnings.

More here.

Dunbar, W. Va., charges $10-an-hour research fees

Two law students at West Virginia University are researching whether Dunbar city officials can legally charge the $10-an-hour research fee for filling FOI requests, in addition to the 35-cent-per-page photocopy charge, The Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette reported. The city said the fee is necessary because staffers are overwhelmed with requests; however, only six FOIA requests were filed since November.

Dunbar city officials have gotten six requests for information under the state Freedom of Information Act since November.

In January, members of Dunbar City Council decided to start charging a $10-an-hour research fee to look up public information to fulfill FOIA requests. City officials said the fee was necessary because employees in the city clerk's office were overwhelmed with requests for information.

City officials also charge 35 cents a page for photocopies.

More here.

President's auto task force owns foreign cars??

FOI at Work!
The Detroit News used public records to find out whether members of the Presidential Task Force on the Audio Industry and the policy aides who will assist them own American cars. The results are pretty scary for the Detroit auto industry.

The vehicles owned by the Obama administration's auto team could reflect one reason why Detroit's Big Three automakers are in trouble: The list includes few new American cars.

Among the eight members named Friday to the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry and the 10 senior policy aides who will assist them in their work, two own American models. Add the Treasury Department's special adviser to the task force and the total jumps to three.

The Detroit News reviewed public records to discover what many of the task force and staff members drove, but information was not available on all of the officials, and records for some states were not complete.

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.

Settlement in Fla. case means taxpayers, not city officials, will likely foot legal bills

A settlement in the case against Venice, Fla., city officials, including the mayor, for using private e-mails to discuss plans for the municipal airport will result in the "city government as a whole" taking the blame, The Herald (Fla.) Tribune reported. No individuals will admit wrongdoing, and therefore they will not be responsible for legal bills. Taxpayers likely will pay the 10 months of mounting legal fees for both sides. The City Council is slated to vote on the settlement Wednesday; however, only one city council member is not involved in this case in any fashion, creating a major conflict of interest.

On the eve of a groundbreaking open government trial involving top Venice leaders, attorneys for both sides reached a tentative deal Thursday to settle the case without the officials admitting wrongdoing.

Instead, the settlement pins the blame on the city government as a whole.

The arrangement creates a potential conflict of interest and could force taxpayers to cover the legal fees for both sides, which could top $1 million.

More here.

Meeting tapes are not exempt from Penn. FOI

Pennsylvania's tougher FOI law, which went into effect in January, does not exempt audio tapes of meetings, the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition reported. The advisory opinion was issued by Terry Mutchler of the state Open Records office. Franklin Park borough, which sought the advice, is expected to adopt a policy outlining how long tapes will be retained by local governments or stop having the secretary record government meetings.

Pennsylvania's open-records chief says audio recordings of government meetings are public records that must be provided to people who request them.

Terry Mutchler of the state Open Records Office issued an advisory opinion sought by Franklin Park borough in Allegheny County.

The borough secretary tapes council meetings to help in writing the official minutes.

More here.

More details from the Pennyslvania Freedom of Information Coalition here.

FBI investigated Valenti's sexual preference

FOI at Work!
The Washington Post obtained previously confidential FBI files that indicate that J. Edgar Hoover's deputies investigated whether Jack Valenti was gay. No proof was found. President Johnson approved the investigation.

When Beltway insider Jack Valenti died two years ago at age 85, he was playing the role of intermediary between Washington and Hollywood as the theatrical, snowy-haired president of the Motion Picture Association of America.

But back in 1964, Valenti was a Houston ad executive newly installed at the White House as a top aide to President Lyndon B. Johnson. And J. Edgar Hoover's FBI found itself quietly consumed with the vexing question of whether Valenti was gay.

More here.

N.O. mayor's e-mail, calendar deleted

The administration of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was ordered to stop "destroying correspondence" after it was sued for deleting e-mail sent to and from the mayor and for deleting most of his 2008 calendar, The Times-Picayune reported. Apparently, the mayor's calendar was only kept in electronic format, and no e-mail or calendar information prior to June 30 can be retrieved. WWL-TV news anchor Lee Zurik filed a public-records request for the data in January and then filed suit. The Nagin administration says its server had capacity problems, which will be fixed.

Orleans Parish Civil Court Judge Rose Ledet delivered a stinging rebuke to Mayor Ray Nagin's administration Tuesday after learning that virtually all of the e-mail sent and received by Nagin last year and much of the information on his 2008 calendar have been erased in an apparent violation of the state public-records law.

Clearly disturbed by the revelation, Ledet ordered the Nagin administration to immediately halt the practice of "destroying correspondence" of the mayor and members of his executive staff.

The tense scene played out during a hearing in Ledet's court for a lawsuit filed against the Nagin administration by WWL-TV news anchor Lee Zurik, who sought the e-mail and calendar information in a public-records request filed in January.

More here.

Still time to submit your vote for most wanted unclassified document

More than 80 suggestions have been received so far by the Center for Democracy and Technology and Open the Government, Nextgov reported. March 9 is the deadline to vote. Look for the results during Sunshine Week, March 15-21.

Also, Recovery.gov is now online and will include a searchable database of stimulus-related spending.

Less than a month after President Obama gave administration officials 120 days to develop a governmentwide transparency directive, watchdogs are compiling a list of the 10 "most wanted" unclassified government documents currently unavailable in an easily accessible format.

ShowUsTheData.org, a project just launched by the Center for Democracy and Technology and Open the Government, has received more than 80 suggestions so far, with financial industry bailout funds and Congressional Research Service reports topping the list. Other popular requests include details on the rationale for and usage of USA PATRIOT Act powers, congressional voting records, and memoranda from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.

Internet users have until March 9 to vote for the unclassified information or data they most want to see posted or updated. The results will be released during Sunshine Week, March 15-21.

More here.

More calls for Illinois governor to overhaul state FOIA

Attorney General Lisa Madigan is the latest open-government advocate to ask for an overhaul of Illinois' FOIA, The Chicago Tribune reported. She suggests that the public access counselor be able to make binding, rather than advisory, decisions when citizens approach Madigan's office for assistance in obtaining records. David Bennett, executive director of the Illinois Press Association, told the paper that the state's FOIA "is not worth the cost of building a fire to burn it."

Atty. General Lisa Madigan today called for an overhaul of the state's Freedom of Information Act, saying the climate of secrecy and corruption that permeated former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration had laid bare weaknesses in current law.

Now in her seventh year in office and considering a run for governor, Madigan called for knocking down barriers that local and state officials reflexively use to refuse routine requests from journalists and other citizens basic public records.

She also proposed giving the public access counselor in her office the ability to make a binding, rather than advisory, decision when citizens go to the attorney general for help in wresting information from reluctant government officials.

More here.

Fla. legislator introduces budget openness act

Florida Rep. Dorothy Hukill says her proposed "Track Your Taxes -- Florida Budget Openness Act" would be "the strongest of its kind in the nation."

State Representative Dorothy L. Hukill (R-Port Orange) filed legislation to open up government spending to all Floridians. The “Track Your Taxes – Florida Budget Openness Act” will allow citizens to use the Internet to track their state and local tax dollars. This far-reaching legislation will be the strongest of its kind in the nation and reflects Florida’s continued commitment to open government.

The bill, House Bill 971, provides access to every dollar raised and spent by state and local governments through a single searchable website, accessible on www.MyFlorida.com. The website would provide information on the date, source, and purpose of each expenditure and revenue, and would allow citizens to view online any government contract in which taxpayer dollars are spent.

“In these tough economic times, it’s more important than ever for government to be open and accessible to the taxpayers. People need to know that their hard-earned money is being spent wisely,” Hukill said. “By using the Internet to shine a light on government spending, we can ensure that government always remains accountable to the citizens it represents.”

The bill is being sponsored in the Senate by Senator Ronda Storms (R-Valrico).

Deadline extended for Hall of Fame

Open Government Hall of Fame deadline extended
to March 1, 2009.

Heroes of the 50 States:
The State Government Hall of Fame

There are heroes among us.
Heroes who may be well known within their respective states and communities, but whose labors have gone unrecognized elsewhere.
Heroes whose efforts have kept state and local government records and meetings open and accessible to their fellow citizens.
It is time to recognize these heroes in the same way we recognize the heroes of the federal Freedom of Information Act.
The Open Government Hall of Fame honors those whose lifetime commitment to citizen access, open government and freedom of information has left a legacy at the state and local level.

ELIGIBILITY

The Open Government Hall of Fame is open to anyone who has made a substantial, sustained and lasting contribution to open government or freedom of information within one particular state. Even if the nominee has been active in national efforts or national organizations, the judges will only consider accomplishments at the state level.

Nominees may come from government, the media, the non-profit sector, the legal profession, or any other area of endeavor that involves citizen access to government records, meetings and procedures.

Nominees may be living or dead, active or retired.

NOMINATIONS

Nominations should include the following:

• Cover letter identifying the nominee and the person or group making the nomination.

• Adequate support material to demonstrate the worthiness of the nominee.

Please send all nomination materials to:

Charles Davis, Executive Director
NFOIC Headquarters
University of Missouri
Reynolds Journalism Institute
Columbia, MO 65211

Nominations must be received by March 1, 2009.

JUDGING

All nominees will be evaluated by a screening committee of SPJ and NFOIC leaders, who will select the winners.

For questions, please contact Charles Davis at 573/882-5736 or daviscn@missouri.edu.

Proposed act would be 'blow to the public's right to access vital scientific data'

The Association for Health Care Journalists warns that new House legislation could limit public access to federal research.

Legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 3 “would constitute a blow to the public’s right to access vital scientific data” if it goes forward, according to a statement by the Association of Health Care Journalists.

The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act, HR 801, introduced by U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. and others, would reverse a National Institutes of Health policy that requires federal research grantees to provide their peer-reviewed articles to PubMed Central, a free online database. Under the existing policy, manuscripts resulting from federally-funded research must be made publicly available within 12 months of their publication date.

More here.

Extravagant banker neglected to pay his own taxes

From the AP:

Public records show disgraced financier R. Allen Stanford owes hundreds of millions of dollars in federal taxes.

The records show four federal tax liens against Stanford totaling more than $212 million. The liens are from 2007 and 2008.

Federal officials charge Stanford with bilking investors out of billions of dollars by claiming unrealistic returns. His bank is closed following a raid Tuesday.

More here.

Utah bill to weaken FOI passes House

The Utah House supported a bill that would exempt records prepared for pending litigation as well as anticipated legal action from the public records act. Open-government advocates are concerned with how lawyers will define "anticipated legal action." The bill will now go to the Senate, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

A bill that would change Utah's public records act passed the House on a 43-27 vote Wednesday.

HB122 would allow some records to be classified as private or protected if prepared for pending litigation -- lawsuits already filed -- and anticipated legal action as well.

The measure has been opposed as a significant dilution of state open records law by a coalition of media organizations, which includes The Salt Lake Tribune.

More here.

Pollution violations fines totaled $55 million in 17 years

FOI at work!
In 17 years, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control handed out $55 million in fines among more than 6,000 violations, the AP reported. FOIA records made the analysis possible.

An analysis by a Charleston newspaper shows that South Carolina health and environmental regulators have imposed about $55 million in fines for pollution violations since 1991.

The Post and Courier reported Tuesday that it reviewed 17 years of records from the Department of Health and Environmental Control that included more than 6,000 violations.

The records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act shows the state issues about 350 civil citations a year for about $3 million in fines.

More here.

Bed bugs multiplying in NY

FOI at work!
FOI request filed by "New York vs. Bed Bugs" confirms that complaints about the insects have numbered more than 9,000.

The bedbug policy advocacy group "New York vs Bed Bugs" had to file a Freedom of Information request to get the city to confirm what everyone already suspected: New York's bed bug population is booming! The group says there were more than 9,200 bed bug complaints to the city's 311 line last year, a 34% jump over 2007. The hottest neighborhoods for bed bugs right now are found in central Brooklyn, northern and eastern Bronx, midtown Manhattan, eastern Queens, and the north shore of Staten Island, the Daily News reports. In an attempt to turn the tide, the City Council will consider bills next week that would ban the sale of used mattresses, train exterminators, and force city agencies to develop a united strategy. Last month the Times called for a bed bug task force to focus on the resilient bastards, noting that "there are a lot of agencies that do a little about bed bugs, but nobody that can help with the whole shebang."

More here.

Also, "New York bedbug complaints increase 34% in a year" by NY Daily News, here.

Homeland Security may have violated privacy of activists

FOI at Work!
Via an FOIA request, The Washington Post obtained an e-mail indicating that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security forwarded information about a Washington area anti-war group to Maryland State Police.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security tracked peaceful activists using information shared with the Maryland State Police, government documents show.

Maryland's two senators, Democrats Benjamin Cardin and Barbara Mikulski, and civil libertarians are worried that privacy rules may have been violated by revelations in documents obtained through the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, The Washington Post (NYSE:WPO) reported Tuesday.

E-mail obtained by the newspaper indicate Homeland Security was able to track the 2005 protest plans of a peaceful Washington area anti-war group based on information shared with the Maryland State Police, whose spying activities on the DC Anti-War Network, or DAWN, have drawn much criticism.

More here.

Vote for your 10 most wanted

The FOIA blog reported that a new Web site is collecting citizens' votes on what government records should be open to the public. The deadline to request a document and vote is March 9.

OpenTheGovernment.org and the Center for Democracy and Technology has launched a website entitled Show Us the Data: The Most Wanted Federal Government Documents, with the help of Sunlight Labs.

This website gives users the opportunity to vote on what what government information should be freely available on line in a usable format, but is not.

More here.

S.D. Senate leader optimistic about open records bill

Sen. Dave Knudson is optimistic that his bill to create a presumption of openness concerning government records will pass through the Legislature, the AP reported. He's prepared for amendments. However, the South Dakota governor supports the opposite theory -- the presumption of closure unless the law dictates that a record must be public.

The sponsor of a bill declaring that most government records are open to the public says he’s optimistic he can shepherd the measure through the 2009 Legislature.

Sen. Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, will get a chance to explain his presumption of openness measure when the Senate State Affairs Committee holds a public hearing on SB147 Wednesday morning in the Capitol.

The Knudson bill takes the position that all government records are open to the public unless specifically closed by a state law.

More here.

EPA originally wanted stricter C8 limits

FOI at Work!

The EPA wanted to limit C8, a toxic chemical, to 0.2 parts per billion but then agreed to a 0.5 limit, the Charleston Gazette reported. The chemical is used by DuPont's Washington Works plant to make nonstick products, such as Teflon. The Gazette secured EPA memos discussing the 0.2 limit from the lawyers of DuPont plant neighbors. The lawyers received the memo from an FOIA request. Officials say the change was due to a calculation error.

Federal government scientists originally sought a much tougher standard for the toxic chemical C8 than was included in a nationwide health advisory issued last month, according to an internal U.S. Environmental Protection Agency memo.

More than three years ago, EPA staffers proposed that the agency rewrite a deal with DuPont Co. to mandate a C8 limit of 0.2 parts per billion, according to the memo.

"EPA's intent is to seek consent through negotiations with DuPont," the memo said. "However, the order could be issued unilaterally if agreement cannot be reached."

More here.

NY Daily News compiles list of city's top overtime employees

With more than $100,000 in overtime pay, several city employees are making more than the mayor, the NY Daily News reported.

The lean times have yet to catch up with city government's bonus babies - scores of workers are still racking up hefty six-figure overtime.

The king of New York overtime remains Pablo Martinez, a Board of Elections senior systems analyst who scored $144,768 in overtime last year. He has been top overtime dog for several years.

Adding his base pay of $91,210, Martinez made $235,978. Not exactly A-Rod money, but it's still almost $11,000 more than the mayor's official $225,000 salary.

More here.

Bill to allow background checks on Ark. officials voted down

The Arkansas House voted down a bill that would have resulted in public criminal history checks on elected officials and candidates for public office, Arkansas Business reported. The information is still public but remains difficult to obtain and compile.

House lawmakers rejected Friday a bill by Rep. Dan Greenberg that would have made the criminal records of elected officials and candidates for public office more accessible to the public.

The bill, which advanced from the Judiciary Committee after three hearings, was voted down 33-56, with 11 members not voting. The bill would have allowed the release of an official's guilty and no-contest pleas, as well as any pending felony or misdemeanor charges filed in the past three years. The bill, which was opposed by Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, did not include traffic violations.

"There's nothing that would be revealed by this bill the public cannot access already," Greenberg, R-Little Rock, said. "The practical problem, as you may know, is for a person to collect this information at present, it would require someone to go to all 75 counties."

More here.

Mass. tells public school system it can't charge $14K for directory data

Cambridge Public Schools argued that it would cost $14,426.88 to compile directory information on its students. This did not even include reproduction costs for the copies of documents. Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records has given the district 10 days to respond with a reasonable charge.

The state’s public records division ordered Cambridge Public Schools to nix its $14,000 charge for public information, saying the school district should be charging a reasonable rate for a complete list of students.

The Chronicle originally made the request in 2007 using the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act to gain access to a list of Cambridge Public School students that would be used for informational purposes, not for publication.

“You are hereby ordered to provide [the Chronicle] with a revised written, good faith estimate which reflects the actual costs of providing the names of the students whose parents have consented to release of ‘directory information,” Supervisor of Public Records Alan Cote wrote in a Feb. 12 letter.

More here.

FOI at work: Johnny Depp's entourage partially funded by Wis. taxpayers

An FOI request for a tally of the expenses that the filmmakers of "Public Enemies" submitted for state tax breaks uncovered the need for improvements in the tax credit law. Taxpayers covered percentages of the cost for costume cleaning, stuntmen's living expenses, Johnny Depp's entourage of chauffeurs and hair stylists, among other expenses. The Commerce Department did prevent filmmakers from claiming the wrap party, the AP reported; however, they were allowed to submit expenses and salaries paid outside of Wisconsin. The film cost the state more in tax credits than it generated in economic activity.

Wisconsin taxpayers contributed $450,000 toward Hollywood director Michael Mann's salary when he came to the state last year to film the big-budget Johnny Depp movie "Public Enemies."

Records obtained by The Associated Press show the state's film tax credits not only covered a quarter of Mann's $1.8 million salary, they paid for a portion of his assistants' salaries, entertainment, meals and stuntmen's living expenses.

The state's tax credits even covered about $100,000 of the cost of Depp's entourage of chauffeurs, hair stylists and assistants, said Zach Brandon, executive assistant at the Wisconsin Commerce Department.

More here.

Presumption may change from openness to secrecy in Conn.

A proposal by Connecticut's Victim Advocate Michelle Cruz would severely undermine the state's FOI laws, the Hartford (Conn.) Courant reported. The span of government records that can be exempted from public disclosure would expand from personnel and medical files to include "documents, materials, photographs, videos, recordings or other tangible objects." Plus, the amendments "presume privacy first," dictating that "the public agency shall not disclose the requested records unless ordered to do so by the Freedom of Information Act."

Connecticut's Victim Advocate Michelle Cruz has proposed turning Freedom of Information laws upside down — sweeping changes that would eviscerate the public's right-to-know laws in an ill-advised, ill-conceived attempt to protect crime victims.

She has proposed expanding the number of government recordsexempted from public disclosure, which now includes personnel and medical files, to include "documents, materials, photographs, videos, recordings or other tangible objects." Making these things public would be considered a punishable invasion of personal privacy.

I'm not sure what she means by a "tangible object," but let's take "recordings" for instance. Let's say there was a bank robbery gone bad where people were shot and injured and one person died. And there was a question that if help had arrived earlier, a life might have been saved. Relatives ask for the impounded bank videos and 911 tapes to try and learn when and how emergency crews got to the scene.

More here.

Poynter: Journalists should give reasons for publishing gun permit lists

Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute wrote in his daily column that journalists should not publish databases, such as gun permit databases, just because they are public records. Journalists should explain why they are publishing it, he said. Gun supporters have argued against the publication of these records for years, and Tennessee is considering making such publication a felony.

The Tennessee legislature is considering legislation that would make it a felony to publish the state's concealed carry gun permits [PDF].

For the last 10 years, gun backers in that state have bragged that permitted gun carriers aren't ever charged with gun crimes. That changed this week when a Memphis area man who had a permit and a gun shot another guy and was charged with second degree-murder.

The Commercial Appeal in Memphis proceeded to post the state's concealed carry permit list, and now gun backers are pitching a fit.

More here.

Defense Dept. releases first FOIA documents about secret prisons

The U.S. Defense Department and U.S. Department of State released the first batch of records in response to a 2007 FOIA-based lawsuit, MSNBC reported.

The Department of Defense’s involvement in the CIA’s “ghost” detention program is certain, according to three human rights groups -- Amnesty International USA, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice.

They released documents today from the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Department of State that, they said, prove the existence of secret prisons at Bagram and in Iraq as well as the Department of Defense cooperation with the CIA ghost detention program. They also said the documents show one case where the Defense sought to delay the release of Guantanamo prisoners.

More here.

Proposed Miss. FOI exemption to prevent others from stealing fishing spots

Should the government protect private fishing spots? That's the question many are asking after a Mississippi Senate bill proposed the exemption of privately-built reef locations from the public-records laws., the Sun Herald (Miss.) reported. The bill to shorten the response time for public-records requests died; a bill related to charges for public records is still alive.

Public-records laws have been a hot topic at the Capitol over the last few days.

One measure that would offer exclusions to Mississippi public-records laws is still alive, while another bill that would have lessened the costs citizens pay and shortened the time governments have to comply with such requests died in the Senate Wednesday.

The House and Senate would have to come to an agreement on whether to exempt the locations of privately-built reefs from public-records laws. The measure is part of larger legislation that establishes a program in Mississippi that allows individuals and commercial operations to construct reefs in the Gulf for fishing.

More here.

Bill aims to stop prisoners from creating flood of records requests

A Washington Senate bill would allow courts to enjoin public records requests filed by prisoners in state correctional facilities, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported. Supporters say the bill is necessary to stop prisoners from overwhelming the system with absurd requests, such as one asking the number of paper bags bought annually at each Department of Corrections facility. Others are worried that the vague language of the bill may make it applicable to other citizens.

The state Public Records Act of 1972 says its terms should be liberally applied to all citizens, but Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, thinks the law may be too liberal.

Carrell said it "isn't appropriate" to allow certain individuals unlimited access to public records, comparing what has been deemed excessive public record gathering to overfishing a sea of information. The ones doing the overfishing, he said, are those serving time in correctional facilities in Washington state.

The Attorney General's Office says about a half-dozen inmates are abusing the Public Records Act to threaten correctional staffers and overwhelm the system as a means to harass those responsible for keeping them behind bars.

More here.

Minn. county tries to ban cameras at meetings

The group We Are Watching may no longer be able to record and post audio and video of St. Louis County Board meetings, Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune reported. Commissioners say the recorder is distracting and that the tapes are edited and taken out of context.

A St. Louis County commissioner has asked for a legal opinion on whether the board can ban citizens from recording some County Board meetings.

Keith Nelson of Eveleth raised the issue Tuesday at the board’s meeting in Duluth, saying he was concerned that he and other commissioners had been recorded at their Jan. 20 board workshop in Pike Lake.

The group We Are Watching records many County Board meetings, including the workshops, and often posts that audio and sometimes video on the group’s Web site, www.northernmnnews.com.

More here.

Negotiations on stimulus bill kept secret

While a Web site (www.recovery.gov) will be set up for people to monitor the spending of the stimulus plan, the negotiations were far from public, Slate reported. As John Dickerson wrote, "The time for transparency is when a decision is being made, not after it has been issued. Once a piece of legislation has been agreed to, or a project has been put in motion, pointing to a Web site doesn't create much moral pressure to undo the deed."

For President Obama to get a stimulus bill, something had to give. You can have urgency or transparency or a thorough think about things. But you can't have all three. Forced to choose, Obama chose the fierce urgency of now.

The president heralded a deal reached Wednesday in the House and Senate on a stimulus bill, but the process wasn't pretty. Creating legislation often isn't. Instead of finding a Lego piece that fits, lawmakers get a larger one and bite it in half. Never mind the jagged edges.

In this case, not only is the end product ragged—some of the elements aren't terribly stimulative—but the means were ugly. The differences between the House and Senate bills were reconciled mostly in secret by House and Senate Democratic leaders, three Northeastern Republicans, and White House aides. This is hardly unusual for Washington—which is precisely the problem: It's not the change Obama promised.

More here.

Obama fails three early tests

Could his promise have been too good to be true?

The Obama administration, which vowed to usher in a "new era of openness in our country," either has delayed action on requests for access to government records or refused to disclose them in three early, high-profile tests of the pledge.

This week, Justice Department lawyers announced that they'd continue to assert the state secrets argument made by the Bush administration in a lawsuit alleging that five men were tortured abroad in U.S.-run prisons.

In a separate case, the Obama Justice Department has agreed with the Bush administration — at least initially — that the news media shouldn't have immediate access to court records in the ongoing Guantanamo detainee litigation.

More here.