Many Americans, if asked how data impacts them personally, would likely point to the convenience of social media, email, and online sales. But the societal benefits of data are manifold—and growing by the day. Understanding how data fosters economic opportunity, innovation, and a better quality of life is necessary to inform smart policymaking on issues like data privacy and security.

In the past year, we’ve seen numerous threats to transparency that endanger the public’s right to know about the actions of government officials, from state lawmakers rewriting rules to hide their communications to public officials’ use of auto-deleting messaging apps.In the past year, we’ve seen numerous threats to transparency that endanger the public’s right to know about the actions of government officials, from state lawmakers rewriting rules to hide their communications to public officials’ use of auto-deleting messaging apps.

After nearly three hours of testimony, much of it from citizens who identified themselves as Republicans, the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee rejected a proposal that would have “disemboweled” the state’s public records law, as one opponent described it.

At the national level, we have a strong Freedom of Information Act. But as anyone who’s made a FOIA request to a federal agency can tell you, the bureaucrats in federal agencies habitually resist disclosing records, responding to FOIA requests with delays at best and flimsy denials at worst. Lloyd Chapman, president of the American Small Business League, a small business advocacy group which has fought and won dozens of FOIA lawsuits, says agencies either drag their feet or invoke weak excuses to avoid disclosing information about things as basic as the federal budget.

The department’s Office of Open Government, which is responsible for responding to open records requests and answering public inquiries about the interpretation of open government laws, reported that in 2022 the agency received a record-high 924 public records requests — beating the previous record by 100.

The likelihood of both of those things happening is looking good: SB 232 sponsor Sen. Janet Ellis, D-Helena, worked with Gov. Greg Gianforte to develop a record request framework that both parties could live with, and an amended version of the bill unanimously passed the Senate March 2.

72% of towns are not posting meeting documents online as required by law.

25% of towns are not posting meeting minutes or recordings online as required by law.

39% of counties failed to acknowledge a FOIL request within five business days as required by law.

28% of counties never acknowledged our FOIL request.

The following is a three-story example of the importance of public records, a free press, and holding government accountable. The first highlights an extensive investigation by the Hearst Media company into violations of the public records laws in Bridgeport, CT. The second covers Bridgeport’s immediate response, promising to fix the violations and issues after the story ran. The last details how the CT legislature is debating the need for better state laws to ensure records access and compliance in Bridgeport and all Connecticut jurisdictions.

State Senator Louis DiPalma told The Providence Journal that he’d experienced some of the challenges of obtaining public records firsthand in his previous role as the chair of the Senate Oversight Committee. He also noted that the Access to Public Records Act has not been updated in 10 years, and in that time “technology has certainly changed.”

Making public records easier for the public to access: The House Finance Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved a measure to limit the amount of money state and local government agencies can charge when documents are requested in the public interest. The bill now goes to the full House for consideration.

Linda Mensch was killed in a hit-and-run crash while leaving the Garfield Park Conservatory in August 2021. Investigators quickly released a photo of the van that hit her as well as its license plate. But for reasons Chicago police refuse to explain – they would not even question the vehicle’s registered owner.

It’s a pattern found in case after case and crash after crash.

Court case addresses question: When a person requests an electronic copy of a public electronic record under the Kansas Open Records Act, must a public agency provide that copy in electronic format? The answer is “yes.”

The order requires all executive branch agencies to post a public records page on their websites that includes a records request form. It requires agencies to designate a public records coordinator to help people with requests. The order requires agencies to acknowledge receipt of a request within two business days. The order sets deadlines for when agencies must provide substantive responses depending on the nature of requests.

CSPRA.org Insight: The following article is about a decision by a court in California with which we disagree.  This decision will allow public officials to hide important information from the public without adequate cause. 

The Legislature wrote Iowa’s public records law 55 years ago, and one of the tenets of the statute was the belief people deserve to know how state and local governments spend their tax money. Another important concept in the law is that fees for copies of government records must be reasonable and cannot exceed the actual cost of providing the documents.

That brings us today to Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, where administrators appear not to grasp what “reasonable” means.

“I lived in a condo on the east side of Collins Avenue, and now I live on the west side of Collins Avenue. I can relate to and understand the challenges of the city because I work here, my children go to school here, I buy my groceries here and I worship here,” she wrote.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reviewed almost two dozen lawsuits filed in the past five years that accused San Diego or other local jurisdictions of failing to comply with the state open-records law by claiming unjustified exemptions or denying there were any documents to release.

Michael O’Brien, an attorney with Parsons Behle & Latimer, has represented The Tribune for years. He said having a lawyer in the room during the appeals process levels the playing field for journalists. Every government entity that Tribune reporters try to get records from, O’Brien pointed out, has access to in-house lawyers, city attorneys or help from the attorney general’s office.

The impact of these court victories has, at times, been broad in scope, helping shape laws and change city policies in favor of greater government transparency. But the Local Legal Initiative attorneys’ work has not been limited to the filings they have submitted to courts or the arguments they have made before judges.