The Best FOI Tool in the Business Just Got Better!

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Charles N. Davis

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press today published the 6th Edition of its Open Government Guide, a comprehensive overview of open records and open meetings laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The guide is available free on the Reporters Committee website at www.rcfp.org/ogg, where users can cross-reference and compare the laws [...]

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A Year Later, Attempts to Weaken Illinois FOI Law Loom…

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Charles N. Davis

From the Chicago Tribune: A little more than a year after Illinois lawmakers rewrote open records laws promising a new era of transparency and accountability, frustrated mayors, school superintendents and police chiefs are back in Springfield, looking to undo many of the provisions. More than three dozen bills — from minor tweaks to major overhauls — were [...]

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More on the Academic Freedom-FOI Flap….

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Charles N. Davis

Newsy has a nice rundown… And Jack Shafer, as is so often the case, makes the point so, so, so much better than I have. Here’s the money graf: Take, for example, the lawsuit filed against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker by the Associated Press and the Madison, Wis., Isthmus after his team ignored open records requests for [...]

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A Look At Utah’s Records Committee…

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Charles N. Davis

This is the first in a series of stories The Slat lake Tribune is doing on the state’s public records law, and it has a great anecdotal opening: In 1992, the first appeal brought before the State Records Committee under Utah’s newly adopted open-records law came from The Salt Lake Tribune, which wanted the Department [...]

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FOI Reform in Georgia Looking Good….

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Charles N. Davis

A promising start to FOI reform in Georgia, my home state… Making good on a campaign promise to strengthen Georgia’s Sunshine Laws, including the Open Records Act and Open Meetings Act, Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, a Republican, has proposed a series of significant changes to both laws. According to a review of the current [...]

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Posted on February 17, 2011 by Charles N. Davis

A new report shows sheriff’s departments in Missouri are not always following the law when it comes to open records, according to a new study by the Missouri Sunshine Coalition. The Missouri Press Association sent Sunshine-Law requests to all 114 sheriffs in the Show-Me State. And while most complied with the law, several did not. [...]

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New Georgia AG Wants Sunshine Revamp

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Charles N. Davis

From the Augusta Chronicle… Attorney General Sam Olens announced his is taking a more proactive approach than his predecessors in championing a broad legislative agenda, including a rewrite of the state’s Sunshine Law and seeking new powers to prosecute human trafficking and mortgage fraud… The rewrite of the Sunshine Law, also known as the Open [...]

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I Like All the FOI Improvement Bills I am Seeing!

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Charles N. Davis

A bill setting a time limit for government groups and other public bodies to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests is headed for the state Senate after passing the House unanimously Tuesday night. House Bill 5, sponsored by Dover Democrat Brad Bennett, would require FOIA requests be granted within 15 business days, unless the [...]

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O, Canada!

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Charles N. Davis

A new study ranks Canada dead last in an international comparison of freedom-of-information laws — a hard fall after many years being judged a global model in openness. The study by a pair of British academics looked at the effectiveness of freedom-of-information laws in five parliamentary democracies: Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom and [...]

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