Access to Public Records Is 'Deteriorating Terribly'

By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene, October 31, 2023

The ability of people to get records that are supposed to be made publicly available has been “deteriorating terribly,” according to David Cuillier, director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida. In fact, a nonprofit organization called MuckRock, which consults with people and organizations in their efforts to get public records, has found that about 10 years ago such efforts were successful about half the time. Today, that’s down to about 18%.

“There has been a consistent move to conceal more and more records from the public,” says Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government. “Some states have done so at a different rate than others, but we see this in many of them.”