RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Open government and environmental advocates are once again battling bills they say that would limit public-information access by creating a Freedom of Information Act exclusion for trade secrets. HB 904 by Del. Roxann Robinson, R-Chesterfield, would create general exclusions from FOIA for trade secrets submitted to a public body. It passed […]
Boulder County has asked the Boulder District Court to order Gunbarrel resident Kristin Bjornsen to pay more than $3,900 in attorney’s fees and related costs — an amount the attorney’s office contends represents only a small portion of the expenses it incurred in defending the county in Bjornsen’s open-meetings and open-records lawsuit. Bjornsen said in […]
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The Denver Police Department has discovered problems with 1,000 of its crime reports, prompting an investigation into who is responsible for the errors and whether someone intentionally fudged the numbers. Inaccurate data or false reporting can damage a department’s credibility, said Jim Ponzi, an associate professor of criminology at Regis University in Denver who has […]
Read More… from Denver police acknowledge errors with 1,000 crime reports
As the result of a public records battle with a local newspaper over court records, two Virginia politicians have decided to address the issue with legislation. One hopes to further open court records to the public. Del. Mike Mullin, D-Newport News, filed House Bill 4, which would require the case management system maintained by the […]
A state agency withheld a public record from the Bangor Daily News even as it emailed the same record to the state’s public access watchdog. Such unexplained instances of withholding records are “becoming the norm,” according to the attorney who helped write Maine’s freedom of access law. The small case over a simple record — […]
Read More… from Maine state agency holds back a simple record, flouting public access law
MADISON – A state lawmaker should have provided a journalist with electronic copies of records, a Dane County judge has ruled. In her decision Friday, Circuit Judge Rhonda Lanford wrote that Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa) should have provided electronic copies of emails requested by a longtime reporter and freedom of information advocate. Bill Lueders, the […]
Read More… from Judge: Wisconsin lawmaker should have provided electronic copies of open records
JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley proposed legislative changes Monday he said would help better enforce state records request and records retention laws. In December, Hawley announced his office would investigate potential violations of the state’s open records law after it was discovered that Gov. Eric Greitens and his staff had been using […]
Read More… from Missouri AG proposes changes to strengthen open records laws
An Annapolis attorney has asked a judge to set aside a new law requiring public meetings before developers submit plans to the city. Alan Hyatt, on behalf of four developers pursuing projects in the city, filed a complaint in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court claiming that the law adopted in October is impractically vague. He […]
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A government that best serves the interests of its people doesn’t seek to unnecessarily hide information, but that’s exactly what one bill introduced in the Kentucky House seeks to do. House Bill 216 — sponsored by Rep. Jason Petrie, a Republican who represents a section of southwestern Kentucky — would exempt committees that award “built-to-suit” […]
Read More… from Editorial: House Bill 216 would hurt Kentucky’s open meetings law
Lawmakers are proposing to create a carve-out in the state’s open-records law for Spaceport America that would allow it to keep secret any information about companies or government agencies blasting rockets from the Southern New Mexico site. The Spaceport Authority, which runs the $220 million public facility, has pushed in recent years to exempt part […]
Read More… from Senate bill would allow spaceport to shield companies’ records
