Federal court rules non-residents can be denied Virginia state records

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that non-residents have no right to Virginia public records under the state’s freedom of information law. Non-residents were challenging the law claiming it was unconstitutional. The two non-residents who sued the state were seeking child support documents and real estate tax assessment records. -db From The Reporters [...]

Group challenges California government agencies for increasing fees for duplicating documents

A California research group says that government agencies trying to cope with budget shortfalls are resorting to increasing fees for copies of public documents in violation of the state’s Public Records Act. The act prohibits charges for retrieving public records to the costs of duplication. But Sacramento County charges $13 for page 1 and $3 [...]

California: State senator bids to improve access to Public Utility Commission documents

State Senator Leland Yee of San Francisco will introduce a bill in January to repeal a law requiring a vote of the Pubic Utilities Commission before most records can be released to the public. Yee is sponsoring the bill after allegations that Pacific Gas and Electric was less than forthcoming with documents concerning the pipeline [...]

California state legislators block disclosure of Assembly spending and budgets

Saying they had already exceeded disclosure requirements on budget records, the California Legislature and Assembly said the records of correspondence about the disbursement of taxpayer money were exempt from disclosure. The Los Angeles Times and Sacramento Bee requested the records to investigate  a legislator’s claim that the Assembly Speaker was cutting his spending allowance because [...]

San Diego newspaper files anti-SLAPP motion on health care district

The San Diego Union Tribune is filing a motion against the Tri-City Healthcare District claiming that the district’s lawsuit against them is an attempt to silence them, a violation of California law. The dispute began with Tri-City’s mistakenly sending the newspaper attorney-client information which the newspaper returned, but Tri-City is suing to block use of [...]

Supreme Court to review case on access to State Bar racial data

The California Supreme Court will decide if the State Bar must release racial data of those taking the bar exam. An appellate court ruled in June that the information could be made public so long as no private information were revealed. A UCLA law professor who believes affirmative action may  hurt minorities wants the records [...]

Dem. lawmaker proposes bill to apply full FOIA disclosure to CA State Legislature

A Democratic legislator, who has been feuding with party leaders over office budget issues, has proposed a bill that would replace the Legislature’s weak disclosure law with the more rigorous freedom-of-information rules that apply to the Governor and all state agencies. -PS Read full story in LA Times

Wisconsin governor and media reach agreement on release of e-mails

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker settled a lawsuit seeking e-mails sent to the governor on the “budget repair bill” that the governor said overwhelming supported the bill. The governor agreed to pay the attorney fees for the plaintiffs, Isthmus newspaper and the Wisconsin Associated Press, and to produce the e-mails on March 22. The plaintiffs agreed [...]

Arizona newspaper sues for release of college records of man accused of shooting congresswoman

The Arizon Republican has sued Pima Community College for records pertaining to Jared Loughner accused of killing six and wounding 13 others including Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford. The newspaper said the information is of great importance to the public to understanding Loughner’s actions and that all records sought are public records. Over the last two months, [...]

A&A: District won’t release legal bills from defending workers’ comp cases

Q: My client has a worker’s compensation case with the school district and made a public records act request in order to determine how much the school district is spending in her case and in total for legal defense of workers’ compensation matters. It is our belief that the attorney is not settling cases for [...]

Proposals for Greater Media Access Released for Public Comment

A California report with a series of proposals to improve media and public access to court records and state proceedings has been released for “public comment” by the Judicial Council. First Amendment Coalition September 22, 2010 By Susana Montes The draft report includes 11 recommendations from the Bench-Bar-Media Committee, appointed by the California Supreme Court. [...]

Newspaper gets records detailing remote Idaho shootout

Public records recently obtained by the Post Register detail a strange incident in which four Idaho State Police officers were left scrambling for safety when they were shot at by an unknown assailant at a remote mining claim. September 6, 2010 By The Associated Press IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — No one was hit by the [...]

Texas cities’ online checkbooks let residents see where tax dollars are going

Cities across Texas are starting to open their books to the public by posting their check registers online. The Dallas Morning News August 9, 2010 By Ian McCann Open government advocates applaud the trend, though they note that in many cases the way the information is provided makes it difficult for the public to scour [...]

U.S. braces for blowback over leaked Afghan war documents

Intelligence officials, past and present, are raising concerns that the Wikileaks.org revelations could endanger U.S. counterterror networks in the Afghan region and damage information-sharing with U.S. allies. July 27, 2010 By The Associated Press WASHINGTON — People in Afghanistan or Pakistan who have worked with American intelligence agents or the military against the Taliban or al-Qaida [...]

Va. privacy advocate can publish SSNs of private, public citizens

A Virginia privacy advocate can post public records containing Social Security numbers of private citizens as well as government officials on her website, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday. News July 27, 2010 By The Associated Press RICHMOND, Va.–The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with B.J. Ostergren’s claim that a 2008 state law [...]

Washington Technology: House passes bill to reduce improper payments

The House passed legislation to regulate accounting practices and identify possible government fraud. -SMD Washington Technology July 15, 2010 By Matthew Weigelt With an eye on the roughly $110 billion in inproper payments agency made in fiscal 2009, the House today passed legislation to toughen federal accounting practices. The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act (S. 1508), which passed [...]

A&A: City Denies Critics Access To Information?

Q: I was very concerned about the Dallas Morning News article from May 19, 2010: “JUDGE ORDERS CITY CRITIC TO AVOID OFFICIALS.”  Did the ruling affect any person requesting records? Because elected officials are the stewards of our tax money, I feel their actions should be available to the public. This situation truly concerns me [...]

San Jose wants to restrict use of private e-mails to discuss official business

San Jose is proposing a disclosure policy to make sure its public officials do not use such devices as iPhones and BlackBerrys to skirt open government laws. -DB San Jose Mercury News January 21, 2010 By John Woolfolk With iPhones and BlackBerrys becoming must-have accessories, San Jose is poised to approve a groundbreaking disclosure policy [...]

A&A: Online arrest records no longer show violations

Q: I have received conflicting information from public records experts and police public information officers on what law enforcement agencies have to release relating to arrest history. So, let me ask you directly, if I submit a request to a police department in California that asks if John Doe, DOB 1/1/60, has ever been arrested [...]

Los Angeles Times suing to discover identity of officer who shot 16-year-old boy to death

The Los Angeles Times has sued the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department seeking the name, rank and other employment information about the sheriff’s deputy who shot a 16-year-old Compton boy to death July 5. -DB Courthouse News Service October 13, 2009 LOS ANGELES (CN) – The Los Angeles Times sued the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department in Superior [...]

No transparency in the Oakland shootings of SWAT team sergeants

Troubling questions remain about how such experienced Oakland policemen were killed by a single gunman in March. The police chief is withholding 911 tapes and other documents to flout open government laws and keep the media and others from seeking the truth. -DB The Oakland Tribune Commentary July 26, 2009 By Thomas Peele THE SHOOTING DEATHS [...]

Justice Department seeking secrecy for Cheney interview in Valerie Plame case

In deciding to make records public of Dick Cheney’s interview with prosecutors in the CIA leak case, a federal judge is seeking to balance the public’s right to know with avoiding making public servants leery of cooperating in future investigations. -DB Politico July 21, 2009 By Josh Gerstein President Barack Obama’s Justice Department is arguing [...]

Los Angeles plans to shift records from software to Google

The Los Angeles City Council will decide whether to shift e-mails and other public records from its antiquated records retention software to a Google service which experts say could improve public access. The police department is concerned that sensitive arrest records would not be secure in the event of the shift. -DB Los Angeles Times July [...]

A&A: Private institutions, public funds and the CPRA

Q: If a private institution such as university or college receives public and private funding for research, can a member of the public get access to records that pertain only to publicly funded research? A: Generally speaking, private universities are not subject to the PRA.  The PRA applies to the public records of state or [...]