Louisiana Senate bill would gut public records access

By Piper Hutchinson, Louisiana Illuminator, April 16, 2024

Public unrest. 

That’s what Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek, fears would happen if the public were made privy to the state government’s deliberative records — records they can already access. 

Public safety is the justification for Cloud’s Senate Bill 482, which would create one of the broadest ever public records exemptions for state government. Her proposal would deny access to records “reflecting advisory opinions, recommendations and deliberations comprising part of a process by which governmental decisions and policies are formulated.” 

That’s nearly every public record — at all levels of government. 

Public records laws protect the public’s right to know what governments are doing. They’re part of “sunshine laws” that every state and the federal government has put in place to protect transparency.