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.