California water info can remain secret, court rules

May 11 -- Crucial details about the location and depth of certain California water wells can be kept secret, and out of the hands of an environmental group, a top federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. Although targeting a specific request for California information, the ruling by ...(the) court could shape at least a few of the other Freedom of Information Act requests nationwide. Continue...

From CFOIC: Colorado legislature approves open-records modernization, sends bill to governor’s desk

May 11 -- An 18-month push to update Colorado’s open-records law for the digital age culminated Wednesday in the final passage of a bill that clarifies the public’s right to copies of electronic government records in useful file formats that permit analysis of information in those records. Continue...

Government Watchdog Groups Say Congressman's FOIA Letters Set "A Troubling Precedent"

May 11 -- A group of government watchdogs sent a letter to Congressman Jeb Hensarling Tuesday afternoon urging him to rescind the letters he sent government agencies informing them about Freedom of Information guidelines. Continue...

CFOIC: ‘Modest approach’ to CORA modernization wins House approval

May 10 -- Legislation to modernize Colorado’s open-records law underwent a significant makeover Tuesday night with a little more than a day left in the 2017 session. The Colorado House gave preliminary approval to a completely reworked, shorter version of Senate Bill 17-040 designed to satisfy both records requesters and the government entities that have opposed the measure. Continue...

These Federal Agencies Agreed To Conceal Some Of Their Communications From The Public

May 10 -- At least three federal government agencies have agreed to seemingly conceal official communications with a congressional committee from public information requests, following letters sent last month by the chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services. Continue...

Florida First Amendment Foundation 2017 Legislative Review

May 10 -- The Florida First Amendment Foundation worked hard throughout Florida's legislative session to advocate for open government and freedom of information. They just released their final report for the 2017 session, which can be found with their weekly reports. The reports can be found here.

Secretive Nonprofits Back Governors Around The Country

May 9 -- Many 501(c)(4)s were created over the years to help push specific issue or ideological causes. But more recently, the state-based nonprofits came to life to help individual candidates. Since most states don't require 501(c)(4) to reveal much about what they're doing, they've become increasingly popular fundraising mechanisms to help governors. Continue...

Scholars: When CEOs Visit the White House, Their Companies Profit

May 9 -- In the first study of its kind, [scholars] used the Obama administration’s White House visitor logs from 2009–2015 to identify 2,286 meetings between federal government officials and corporate executives from S&P 1500 firms. [They] found that money can buy you greater access to the White House, and that for corporations, that access translated into big returns on Wall Street. Continue...

Sunlight Foundation: A brief history of the DATA Act

May 9 -- On May 9th, federal agencies will officially begin reporting data in compliance with the open standards created under the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, the landmark legislation that cleared Congress in 2014. The data will start flowing to openbeta.USAspending.gov in the coming days and will eventually be transitioned to USAspending.gov, the long term online home of federal spending data. Continue...

If Fla. Gov. Rick Scott signs this bill, 2.7 million criminal records vanish from public view

May 8 -- The bill, if signed, would automatically administratively seal court records of nearly anyone who is found not guilty or is acquitted during a trial or has the charges dropped or dismissed. Charging documents could still be obtained from the courthouse where the charges were filed, but the charges won’t show up in a background check through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Continue...

Georgia Court Rules Open Records Act Won't Cover Academic Research

May 8 -- The judges overturned Atlanta City Court Judge Edward Baety, who was sitting in on Fulton County Superior Court when he granted summary judgment to the University System of Georgia Board of Regents and the Campaign for Accountability. They were fighting a challenge from the Consumer Credit Research Foundation seeking to block release of records on a Kennesaw State University professor's research into payday lending. Continue...

From GovExec: FOIA Requests Hit Record High, Processing Improves

May 8 -- FOIA offices governmentwide received a record high of 788,769 requests, a 10.6 percent increase over the previous year, Justice’s Office of Information Policy reported on Wednesday. Requests have marched steadily upward since 2009, with a slight dip in fiscal 2015. Continue...

Massachusetts police abuse exemption in public-records law, reform panel is told

May 5 -- For the first time in more than four decades, Massachusetts lawmakers are in the midst of revamping the state’s weak public records law. As part of the overhaul, a state working group has been charged with reviewing and evaluating the way in which law enforcement agencies have used public records exemptions and will recommend changes to the Legislature by year’s end. Continue...

Colorado Governor signs bill requiring ‘cooling-off period’ for CORA disputes

May 5 -- Gov. John Hickenlooper signed legislation Thursday that requires a “cooling-off period” when open-records disputes reach the point where litigation is being considered. With House Bill 17-1177, someone who is denied records under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) must wait 14 days to challenge the denial in court. During that time, the records custodian for a government entity must speak with the requester in person or by phone in an attempt to resolve the matter. Continue...

D.C. announces 'open by default' data policy

May 5 -- Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the signing of an executive order Thursday that creates a new data policy setting an "open by default" standard for all District government data. The order's signing, announced at the launch of #innoMAYtion, Bowser's month-long civic tech promotion initiative, includes a directive to treat the city's data as a valuable resource and adds new classifications and governance around publishing data to the district's open data portal. Continue...

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