The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
Posts Tagged ‘public records’
Michigan agencies estimate thousands of dollars for access to records
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s administration had preached transparency, according to the Lansing State Journal, but is charging exorbitant amounts for access to state contract records. The Lansing State Journal sought contracts from the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget, the repository for 1,200 contracts worth $32 billion between the state and outside vendors. The…
Read MoreCivil Beat in Hawaii announces creation of new public records law center
Journalists from an online news service in Hawaii have started a public service law center to help citizen’s navigate the state’s open record laws. Honolulu-based Civil Beat reports that Hawaii has decent public information laws, but in practice state and county government fail to follow and enforce the law. Patti Epler of Civil Beat describes…
Read MoreMuckRock analysis finds 27 percent of FOIA requests still unfulfilled after three months
MuckRock, a public records service that files and tracks requests on behalf of journalists, researchers, activists and historians, recently analyzed 907 requests completed by its users. The analysis found about 42 percent of federal Freedom of Information Act requests were completed on time, and 27 percent of those 907 requests are still without a response after…
Read MoreCountries with longtime FOI laws have less corruption, better human development
The Center for Law and Democracy rates FOI law effectiveness by country. Freedom of Information Act advocates have consistently claimed that institutionalizing the right to information will benefit countries, particularly in addressing corruption. They are not lying. By comparing indices on corruption, human development, and years of having an FOI law across 168 countries, I…
Read MoreFOIA Machine sees early success on Kickstarter
On July 16, a team of journalists and developers launched a Kickstarter campaign for a project called FOIA Machine. They asked for $17,500 to build a tool to help journalists and citizens request public information — a “TurboTax for government records,” the team called it. Two days later, they passed that goal. A week later,…
Read MoreCalifornia transit agency changes records policy in midst of investigation
inewsource out of San Diego reports that in the midst of an investigation into a local transportation agency, the North County Tranist District, the agency voted to adopt a policy change that would direct its employees to delete certain emails after 60 days, a drop from the previous email retention policy of two years. Despite…
Read MoreGetting Past “No” when government pushes back
By Kathryn Sharkey “How many people in here have filed federal information requests … and how many of you have been told no?” The room, during the panel “Getting past ‘No’ when government pushes back” on Friday of the IRE Conference, was filled with raised hands and chuckles as Jack Gillum from the Associated Press…
Read MoreDepartment of Justice expedites IRE request, assigns officer
The Department of Justice has expedited IRE’s request for records pertaining to the surveillance of news organizations and has assigned an officer to handle the request. Last week, IRE reported that it had filed the request and that the DOJ had sent a letter of acknowledgement but had not assigned the request a reference number…
Read MoreOpen government advocates say additions to California budget bill would devastate public records law
The California legislature has added wording to the state budget bill that open government advocates say would devastate the state’s public records laws. The added language would allow government officials to turn down records requests without written record of the basis for denial. Officials would no longer need to cite legal reasons for withholding information.…
Read MoreFinalists announced for Golden Padlock award
Investigative Reporters and Editors has released the list of finalists for its inaugural Golden Padlock Award honoring a U.S. government agency for its unrelenting commitment to undermining the public’s right to know. JobsOhio: Ohio Gov. John Kasich and the state legislature are nominated for creating a non-profit economic development entity exempt from public records disclosure laws, despite…
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