Three nonprofits accused the judiciary in 2016 of overcharging to review and download records through the service known as PACER, an acronym for Public Access to Court Electronic Records. The agreement, which must be approved by a federal judge in Washington, mainly would refund up to $350 for fees paid between April 2010 and May 2018. Users who paid more during that period would receive an additional share of the remaining funds.

But on Wednesday, after a six-year legal saga, a federal judge entered an order that set in legal concrete an agreement between this news service and the Florida e-filing authority that returns public access to new complaints when they cross the virtual counter, bringing the state courts back in line with how they used to be in the time of paper.

But in practice, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s site is more byzantine than inviting. It lists permit applications from across the state on separate pages for air pollution, industrial and hazardous waste, municipal solid waste, radioactive materials, underground injections and water pollution. And to see a project’s location, readers must open an attached PDF, which also lists proposed pollutants like “NOX,” “PM/PM10,” “VOC” and “H2S.”

"Over and over again, the city engaged in a pattern of hiding information, first about the underlying incident and then about how it handled the request for records," said attorney Matt Topic, who is part of the legal team that sued for the materials. They're now seeking penalties, which are allowed under Illinois' public records law to discourage violations.

The murder of Las Vegas reporter Jeff German sent shockwaves through the community after a county official, Robert Telles, was arrested.

Telles was the most recent in a long line of public officials held to account by German, who fearlessly targeted his coverage from the perspective of the underdog, those who knew him said.

Block Club Chicago, founded in 2018 by Shamus Toomey (former managing editor of DNAinfo Chicago, and metro editor at the Chicago Sun-Times), Jen Sabella (former deputy editor at DNAinfo Chicago), and Stephanie Lulay (former senior editor at DNAinfo Chicago), focuses their work around reporters who are assigned to, and often based in, specific neighborhoods, rather than on topical beats.

In a 4-3 ruling, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that a community group was not entitled to recover legal fees from the city of Waukesha under the Wisconsin Open Records Act after its lawsuit seeking access to a draft city contract ultimately prompted officials to make the document public, but without a court order forcing their hand.

According to the ruling, Leonard issued a CORA request to the business district seeking “contracts with those who performed the construction and consulting work for the installation of the public improvements paid for by the District” and “invoices and payments made to Nor’wood and InterQuest Marketplace, LLC, or any related entity of either, for work or services performed on behalf of the District.”

The court’s holding that the reporter was entitled to bring his lawsuit challenging the non-response has far-reaching consequences and has been hailed as a major victory for transparency in California.

“It’s not real-time information and it has little utility for the future,” he said.

The database does not show disciplinary cases from the officers’ own police departments or sheriff’s offices. It also does not show cases until after the state hearing wraps up, often after the officer has already left the force.

“There were concerns expressed to the Public Information Board that the rule under consideration … (would impact) small communities who don’t have large staff. I think that is overblown. There are not that many requests that some small communities are receiving in the course of a year. All it takes is a form email that says ‘we’ve received your request and will be back in touch shortly.’

Most states’ FOI laws require that public records requests be made in writing. Even if your state does not, it is often a good idea to make a written request so that you have documentary evidence that the request was made.

These problems have held up complaints the council received from 2012 through 2020 for 21 months, on average, while complaints involving complex issues can take more than six years to resolve, investigators found. In one case, it took the council 33 months after a complaint was filed to ask the agency in question why it withheld records, according to the report.

“By turning off the report capability, the secretary denied reasonable public access to that public record and the information within it,” Justice Stephen Hill wrote in the appeals court decision. “That action — choosing to conceal rather than reveal public records — violates KORA.”

This Guide was prepared for Minnesota-based businesses. Data, however, crosses state and national borders, and thanks to the Internet, most businesses have now become global. It is no longer safe to just consider Minnesota and U.S. laws and federal regulations when it comes to data privacy and security. For this reason, we have included some basic information on data privacy laws outside of the United States.

Even around Tampa Bay, the law has been applied differently. The Hillsborough and Pasco sheriff’s offices and the Tampa Police Department have been redacting all victim information from case records automatically. The St. Petersburg Police Department and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office have only invoked Marsy’s Law if a victim specifically requests it. Once cases reach State Attorney’s Offices, it becomes the decision of prosecutors how and what information to keep private. As with police agencies, those decisions have differed from county to county, undermining Florida’s long commitment to open government and creating uneven levels of public access.

The Uniform Law Commission has created a committee to study “Redaction of Personal Information from Public Records,” intended to protect certain public officials and others.

The letter from government transparency organizations raises three main concerns regarding the ULC’s study of redaction of personal information from public records.

Representative Megan Jones of Sioux Rapids said the law “strikes a balance” between state and local governments and the requesters of public records, but it’s also an important check on some corporations that go on data mining expeditions through public records.

To help increase transparency and public awareness of government decision-making, all 50 states have enacted laws that require certain government records to be open to the public. At the same time, some records are exempt from public access and disclosure, such as information related to physical or digital security, sensitive personal information and records that are restricted by federal law.

The bill, SB 196, sponsored by Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, would require that requests for public records receive an acknowledgement within six business days. The office would have 16 business days to make a decision to approve, deny or deny in part the request. If denied, the agency would need to provide a reason.