zacharybaiel.com

Sunshine Week

Government Transparency and Accountability

zacharybaiel.com

Sunshine Week

• Sunshine Week is a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.
• Participants include news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools and others interested in the public’s right to know.

zacharybaiel.com

Sunshine Week History

• Started as Sunshine Sundays in 2002 by Florida Society of Newspaper Editors
• The American Society of News Editors kicked off the first Sunshine Week in 2005.
• Held mid-March to coincide with James Madison’s birthday (16th)

zacharybaiel.com

Sunshine Week: Goals

• Enlighten and empower people to play an active role in government.
• Connect individuals and groups who are interested in open government
• Gain access to information that makes lives better and communities stronger

zacharybaiel.com

Sunshine Week: Ways to Participate

• You are right now!
• Audit of compliance with records laws
• Audit and review of government websites
• Review of proposed open government laws
• Focus on the most serious open government issues facing the state/community
• Demystify public records

zacharybaiel.com

Demystifying Public Records

Should government be a black box of thought and action?

zacharybaiel.com

IC 5-14-3-1 Public policy; construction; burden of proof for nondisclosure

Sec. 1. A fundamental philosophy of the American constitutional form of representative government is that government is the servant of the people and not their master. Accordingly, it is the public policy of the state that all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and employees. Providing persons with the information is an essential function of a representative government and an integral part of the routine duties of public officials and employees, whose duty it is to provide the information. This chapter shall be liberally construed to implement this policy and place the burden of proof for the nondisclosure of a public record on the public agency that would deny access to the record and not on the person seeking to inspect and copy the record.

zacharybaiel.com

What is a public record?

Pretty much everything the government creates or has created for them

zacharybaiel.com

IC 5-14-3-2 Definitions

(o) "Public record" means any writing, paper, report, study, map, photograph, book, card, tape recording, or other material that is created, received, retained, maintained, or filed by or with a public agency and which is generated on paper, paper substitutes, photographic media, chemically based media, magnetic or machine readable media, electronically stored data, or any other material, regardless of form or characteristics.

zacharybaiel.com

I have access to all the records!

Almost.

zacharybaiel.com

Exemptions

• Legally confidential
• Trade secrets
• Certain financial records
• Patient medical records

• Photos, audio, video recordings of an autopsy
• Investigatory records*
• Work product of an attorney
• And plenty more...

zacharybaiel.com

Sounds like an easy loophole to deny everything.

Close. The law is on the Public’s side.

zacharybaiel.com

IC 5-14-3-6 Partially disclosable records; computer or microfilm record systems; fees

(a) If a public record contains disclosable and nondisclosable information, the public agency shall, upon receipt of a request under this chapter, separate the material that may be disclosed and make it available for inspection and copying.

zacharybaiel.com

Great. How much does it cost* to make a request?

$0.00

or $0.10 per page for a copy

or $X for reprogramming

zacharybaiel.com

IC 5-14-3-8 Fees; copies

(b) Except as provided in this section, a public agency may not charge any fee under this chapter:

(1) to inspect a public record; or

(2) to search for, examine, or review a record to determine whether the record may be disclosed.

zacharybaiel.com

Wonderful. I’m ready.

Let us free some information!

zacharybaiel.com

Examples of My Own Requests

• Audio / video records of meetings
• Information provided to Boards, but not the Public at Public Meetings
• Planning Information for Developments around Tippecanoe County

zacharybaiel.com

How to make a public records request

• Identify the information you want
• Politely ask in person or over the phone
• Request digital versions
• Follow-up verbal request with an e-mail
• Must provide response (not documents) within 24-hours
• Wait patiently for a reasonable amount of time

zacharybaiel.com

IC 5-14-3-3 Right to inspect and copy public agency records; electronic data storage; use of information for commercial purposes; contracts

1. No request may be denied because the person making the request refuses to state the purpose of the request, unless such condition is required by other applicable statute.

zacharybaiel.com

IC 5-14-3-9 Denial of disclosure; action to compel disclosure; intervenors; burden of proof; attorney's fees and costs

(2) the denial includes:

(A) a statement of the specific exemption or exemptions authorizing the withholding of all or part of the public record; and

(B) the name and the title or position of the person responsible for the denial.

zacharybaiel.com

IC 5-14-3-3 Reasonable Time / Copies

Within a reasonable time after the request is received by the agency, the public agency shall either:

(1) provide the requested copies to the person making the request; or

(2) allow the person to make copies:

(A) on the agency's equipment; or

(B) on the person's own equipment.

zacharybaiel.com

Getting the run-around?

The Indiana Public Access Counselor to the rescue!

zacharybaiel.com

Write this number down...

​

(317) 234-0906

zacharybaiel.com

Public Access Counselor

The Public Access Counselor provides advice and assistance concerning Indiana's public access laws to members of the public and government officials and their employees.

zacharybaiel.com

PAC History

• Governor Frank O'Bannon created the office by executive order in 1998 after a statewide collaboration of seven newspapers found great obstacles in obtaining government information in Indiana.
• In 1999, the General Assembly created the office statutorily.

zacharybaiel.com

Fun Reading: Advisory and Informal Opinions

• Great way to research and read about other request issues people in Indiana have faced
• Learn the perspective of the PAC
• Learn the perspective of Public Agencies

zacharybaiel.com

Indiana Coalition for Open Government

The Indiana Coalition for Open Government (ICOG) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to the promotion of open government and freedom of information throughout all levels of state and local government in Indiana.

zacharybaiel.com

What records are you going to request today?

Questions, comments, criticisms, thoughts

zacharybaiel.com