Articles
33 articles on public records, transparency and privacy.
NY mayor Bill de Blasio office defends FOI request filtering
Before New York mayor Bill de Blasio ever took office in the Big Apple, he was lobbying for more transparency in the political system. Specifically, he was an advocate…
Sale of student data firm raises privacy concerns
As you read this, millions of students across the country, and across the world have just had their graduation ceremonies from one level of education or another.…
Criminal records an unfortunate reality for many in Colorado foster care
There is something wrong with a system that ends with more of those in its care becoming incarcerated than graduating high school, but that’s the unfortunate reality for…
Oregon governor proposes new public records and transparency bills
Governor Kate Brown, who just recently took office, is already taking action to close up some of the loopholes and wording that led to a recent scandal with former…
Montana seeks to limit the destruction of public records
Government records and their availability to the public are topics that seem like they should be straightforward, but are often bogged down in various conflicts of…
Washington State Liquor Board pays off public records suit filer
While a “gadfly” is a fly that hangs out on horses and cattle, the phrase had made its way into modern day colloquialisms as someone who provokes questions or issues…
How much will it cost you to use the streets in Portland?
Infrastructure is a large consumer of tax revenue each year. This is especially true for cities like Portland, Oregon, where millions of pounds of vehicles will rumble…
Public records might become harder to get in Illinois
Public records have, for a long, long time, played an important role in democratic governments. This fact is certainly true in the United States, where each individual…
University of Michigan is latest example of records loophole for colleges
To say that there have been problems reconciling university policy with state level lawmaking when it comes to public records would be an understatement. To say that the…
ACLU joins public records fight in New Jersey
Sometimes it just seems like journalists can’t get a break, at least in the public records arena. And when one finally gets a win, it’s short lived, or at least hotly…
Florida universities use public records loophole
As part of the publicly funded education system in the state of Florida, public universities and colleges are subject to the state’s ‘Sunshine Laws’, a series of…
Texas parole board member allegedly tampered with government records
A Texas parole commissioner has been relieved of her duties after being indicted for falsifying and tampering with government records. The Huntsville commissioner had…
Bay County in Michigan offers online ordering of certificates
A new online service will be offered by the Bay County Clerk’s office in Michigan starting January 1, 2015. The service, which was designed to add convenience, will…
California Census data is flawed according to Bay Area police
Census data compiled in the Bay Area shows local police departments need more diversity if it wants to reflect its current population. While many area departments…
Ohio Democrats file public records suit in Ohio Supreme Court
Thursday afternoon, the Ohio Democratic Party filed suit in the Ohio Supreme Court to press Ohio Governor, John Kasich and Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor to release…
Pennsylvania counties could save big with electronic storage
A new law could save counties in Pennsylvania thousands of dollars by storing court records electronically. This law would help modernize storage and save money by…
Florida court restricts physician speech on gun ownership
A Florida appeals court stated on Friday that it is constitutional to restrict what a physician can tell its patients about gun ownership. The court said regulating…
Records request consumes months of government resources
Public records are designed to keep government agencies accountable for their actions and also to help individuals find information they need in the pursuit of personal,…
Massachusetts Governor vetoes MBTA retirement fund exemption
On Friday, July 11, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed that state’s final 2015 budget. As part of his overall review and budget approval, the Governor chose to…
Bay County Appraiser warns residents about property assessment scam
There is currently a mail solicitation circulating around the Bay County area from a company calling itself the “Record Transfer Services.” The company offers…
Massachusetts SWAT teams don’t need to respond to public records requests
What does a SWAT team have in common with the Girl Scouts of America? It depends on whether they’re located in Massachusetts and the ACLU tries to get records out of…
Pennsylvania schools to get more transparent in the coming year
What do Penn State, Temple, Pitt, and Lincoln universities have in common? They’re all classified as “state-related” universities, an affiliation that classifies them as…
Ohio audit shows improvement in compliance rates
While perfect compliance rates in public records requests are hard to achieve, it’s always good to see improvement, and improvement was certainly seen in a recent…
Proposition 42 in California is a major win for government transparency
In 2013, Gov. Jerry Brown of California faced a major problem: he had just approved a state budget that let local governments and jurisdictions off the hook for…
Kentucky has trouble keeping up with the digital age
Just like any other state, Kentucky has provisions in its laws allowing for the public to inspect the records of public officials and bodies at will. This can include…
Little shop that changed the course of privacy law closes
If you don’t live in Washington, D.C., you might not have ever heard of Potomac Video, a small video rental shop that’s had its doors open for the past 33 years, since…
How much should public records cost?
As far as parents and local officials are concerned, the school district of Radford, Virginia has some explaining to do in order to justify their sky-high public records…
The Seattle Times gets $41,000 settlement from King County over records violations
A Seattle newspaper just fought a legal battle that many publications would have shied away from, and all in the name of obtaining public records documenting a startling…
Accidental handgun discharge leads to strange response from Batavia police
Earlier this month a bizarre story surfaced out of the city of Batavia, New York. In late April, the police were called to the Grandview Terrace apartment complex to…
New Boulder, CO law lowers fees for requesting public information
In Boulder County, Colorado, public records requests will no longer cost extortionate amounts to carry out. At least, that’s the idea. According to Boulder Weekly,…
Local NJ school district accused of altering official emails
Highland Park school district officials, right on up to the superintendent, are under harsh scrutiny from parents of young children attending schools under their…
Californians to vote on making their government more transparent
It wasn’t long ago that governor Jerry Brown, along with the California state legislature, finalized a nearly $100 billion dollar state budget and were ready to move on…
Will public records be the end of New York’s horse-drawn carriages?
Police departments have struggled for years with harassment and litigation (both threatened and actually filed) from animal rights activists protesting their use of dogs…