Puerto Rico’s new governor has signed an executive order creating a new public affairs and public policy secretary position that will be responsible for drawing up proposed legislation similar to the Freedom of Information Act that has long been enforced in the U.S. mainland.
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Read More… from Puerto Rico governor pursues freedom of information law
State regulators and an organization that proposes workers’ compensation coverage rates in Florida defended themselves in pleadings to a state appeals court this week, seeking to overturn a lower court ruling that they had violated open-government laws.
Attorneys for the National Council on Compensation Insurance, or NCCI, submitted their arguments in a brief filed Wednesday with the 1st District Court of Appeal. The state office of Insurance Regulation is also a party to the suit, filed by Miami workers’ compensation attorney James Fee.
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Read More… from Ratings agency warns in brief against ‘dramatic expansion’ of Florida’s Sunshine Law
A long-running legal battle over the governor’s decision to deny a 2014 open-records request was resolved in Pence’s favor by a three-judge panel.
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Read More… from Indiana Judge holds former Gov. Pence to open-records law
The executive director of the state Committee on Open Government really took to heart Sen. Brad Hoylman’s Friday request for an “expedited” advisory opinion on the question of whether or not the state Senate’s new rule barring the use of cellphones as audio, video or photographic recording devices within the chamber and its public galleries without the permission of the Senate secretary violates the state’s Open Meeting Law.
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Read More… from Transparency committee: N.Y. Senate cellphone ban violates Open Meetings Law
Two of Gov. Kate Brown’s top staffers stepped down last week following news reports that employment they held outside of her office could compromise their work for the government.
The governor’s spokespeople argued the assertions were baseless as the story played out. And since the resignations were confirmed, they haven’t acknowledged what might have been learned. What’s so dismaying is how familiar it feels.
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Read More… from Oregon Gov. Brown owes public more transparency in ethics issues
Government transparency was one of the big topics at the Minnesota State Capitol Tuesday.
The Minnesota Coalition on Government Information held a joint press conference with other local groups to raise their concerns over government email deletion and other transparency issues.
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Read More… from Deleting emails debated at Minnesota State Capitol
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley last week announced a list of measures he is asking the Legislature to pass this session. While all are important, there was one that stood out to us: making criminal booking photographs part of the public record.
You know them as “mug shots.”
Whenever anybody is arrested for a crime, law enforcement agencies take a photograph of the accused.
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Read More… from South Dakota Attorney General: Make mug shots public record
This has nothing to do with whether Oklahoma Rep. Dan Kirby is innocent of sexual harassment, as he claims. This has nothing to do with whether University of Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon deserves a second chance after a video showed him punching a woman who had slapped him.
This has everything to do with our right to know what transpires in a public setting or how our taxpayer dollars are being spent.
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Read More… from Oklahoma Joe: Government transparency must improve
The South Portland Police Department has released the document that spells out its officers should use the body cameras that they will begin wearing in a few weeks.
The department posted the policy on its Facebook page following calls from civil liberties advocates for assurance the the cameras will not be used to invade people’s privacy. The policy was not initially released when the department announced that it would begin using the technology. The ACLU of Maine filed a public records request for the document, according Legal Director Zach Heiden.
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Read More… from South Portland Police Department releases its body camera policy
Accusing Gov. John Kasich of “engaging in Putin-like rule” to overturn a state law on health-care price transparency, the law’s sponsor wants the attorney general to hire outside counsel to defend the state against an industry lawsuit.
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