News

Recent FOI Advocate posts

The Michigan Court of Appeals is hearing arguments in cases related to troubled city finances in Detroit and Flint. The issue is whether the state review teams that looked at the books in both cities should have met in public.

The South Carolina House approved a bill Thursday strengthening the state's open records law. The bill approved 101-1 a bill barring public agencies, governments and school districts from charging excessive fees for public records and requiring them to respond more quickly. It also removes legislators' exemption from the law.

For almost eight years, the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners has assigned liaisons to most county departments to help manage the departments and keep the rest of the board members up to date on county projects. But Board of Commissioners Chairman Mike Babb says changes in the state’s open records law may lead the board to abolish any formal liaisons.

More from the open government and FOIA blog.

More open government and FOIA news updates

The latest FOIA and open government updates are streamed in Twitter feeds below.

Freedom of Information Summits

Be sure to catch up on all the news, panels, participants and attendees from recent FOI Summits.

Knight FOI Fund Press

The Knight FOI Fund exists to offer financial support in open government lawsuits. It was established to fuel and assist the pursuit of important FOI cases by helping to defray upfront costs such as filing fees, depositions, court costs and other expenses associated with legal actions. Read all about the Knight FOI Fund here.

Freedom of Information LISTSERV

FOI-L is a mailing list discussion on the Internet, run out of Syracuse University for NFOIC. Join in the discussion about access to public records, closure of governmental meetings, trends in legislation, and other issues about the public's access to government records and meetings.

2011 Hero of the 50 States

NFOIC and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) selected John R. Finnegan Sr., former executive editor and assistant publisher of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, for their joint Heroes of the 50 States: The State Open Government Hall of Fame award for 2011.

Sunshine Week at Work in the States

See reports and activities from the 2011 Sunshine Week, including a great new iPhone app, iOpenGov, brought to you by our friends and NFOIC member coalition, First Amendment Coalition.