Government watchdogs are celebrating this month the 40th anniversary of the Kentucky Open Records Act. It has withstood the test of time as an indispensable tool for a variety of individuals and interest groups seeking to hold public officials accountable.
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A bill before the New Jersey Legislature would cut public access to police video and audio recordings in New Jersey, making them accessible only by law enforcement or through a court order.
The measure (S788) would create an exemption to New Jersey's Open Public Records Act for "law enforcement camera recordings" as well as 911 calls and transcripts. Its introduction comes as police departments across the state are implementing body camera programs amid a national climate of scrutiny of law enforcement practices spurred by high-profile police shootings.
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Kansas policymakers say they want to bring the state’s open records law into the 21st century and ensure that public officials can’t flout it by using private e-mails and personal devices.
A special committee held its first meeting on the issue Friday and identified numerous questions on how the 30-year-old Kansas Open Records Act ought to be updated for a digital world. Continue>>>
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From Asbury Park Press:
When exactly can the information floating inside a computer be considered a “government record” that is open to public inspection? It’s a question being considered by the courts as a result of a lawsuit by the Gannett New Jersey newspapers against the small Somerset County borough of Raritan.
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State Attorney General Scott Pruitt has written a letter to the Oklahoma Association of Chiefs of Police about complaints that police departments are violating the Open Records Act by withholding public information from initial incident reports.
“The state Legislature has made it clear in this regard that a police department's initial offense report or cover sheet should be open for public inspection, regardless of its inclusion in an investigation file,” Pruitt wrote in his Jan. 4 letter.
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