A letter from government transparency organizations urges the Uniform Law Commission to prioritize the public’s right to know when it studies the redaction of personal information from public records. The June 17 letter was written by Sarah Brewerton-Palmer, legislative chair of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, and was edited and endorsed by Todd Fettig, the…
Tag: Open Oregon
Final tally for Portland schools over public records disputes? Nearly $280,000
Portland Public Schools will pay an additional $105,000 to cover legal fees in a dispute that began when the district refused to release the names of staffers it had put on paid leave, the school board decided Tuesday. That puts the total bill for the district-initiated lawsuit at just over $277,000, which is 38 percent higher…
Editorial: Fix problems in (Oregon) public records law
Request public records in Oregon and you can get: • Sued by the agency you requested the records from. • Slapped with thousands of dollars in charges to get access to what is supposed to be public. • Nothing. Government bodies can simply ignore your request or otherwise act in bad faith without fear of…
Oregon DOJ overturns public records fee rule
The Oregon Department of Justice has overturned a 14-year-old rule requiring some state agencies to charge for public records.
The ruling was sparked by the Statesman Journal's appeal of a decision by the Public Employees Retirement System to charge full price for release of public records. PERS asked for $112 to produce the 2015 travel receipts of the retirement system's director and board members. When the newspaper's request to waive those fees was denied, it appealed to the DOJ.
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