“There were concerns expressed to the Public Information Board that the rule under consideration … (would impact) small communities who don’t have large staff. I think that is overblown. There are not that many requests that some small communities are receiving in the course of a year. All it takes is a form email that says ‘we’ve received your request and will be back in touch shortly.’

Most states’ FOI laws require that public records requests be made in writing. Even if your state does not, it is often a good idea to make a written request so that you have documentary evidence that the request was made.

These problems have held up complaints the council received from 2012 through 2020 for 21 months, on average, while complaints involving complex issues can take more than six years to resolve, investigators found. In one case, it took the council 33 months after a complaint was filed to ask the agency in question why it withheld records, according to the report.

“By turning off the report capability, the secretary denied reasonable public access to that public record and the information within it,” Justice Stephen Hill wrote in the appeals court decision. “That action — choosing to conceal rather than reveal public records — violates KORA.”

This Guide was prepared for Minnesota-based businesses. Data, however, crosses state and national borders, and thanks to the Internet, most businesses have now become global. It is no longer safe to just consider Minnesota and U.S. laws and federal regulations when it comes to data privacy and security. For this reason, we have included some basic information on data privacy laws outside of the United States.

Even around Tampa Bay, the law has been applied differently. The Hillsborough and Pasco sheriff’s offices and the Tampa Police Department have been redacting all victim information from case records automatically. The St. Petersburg Police Department and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office have only invoked Marsy’s Law if a victim specifically requests it. Once cases reach State Attorney’s Offices, it becomes the decision of prosecutors how and what information to keep private. As with police agencies, those decisions have differed from county to county, undermining Florida’s long commitment to open government and creating uneven levels of public access.

The Uniform Law Commission has created a committee to study “Redaction of Personal Information from Public Records,” intended to protect certain public officials and others.

The letter from government transparency organizations raises three main concerns regarding the ULC’s study of redaction of personal information from public records.

Representative Megan Jones of Sioux Rapids said the law “strikes a balance” between state and local governments and the requesters of public records, but it’s also an important check on some corporations that go on data mining expeditions through public records.

To help increase transparency and public awareness of government decision-making, all 50 states have enacted laws that require certain government records to be open to the public. At the same time, some records are exempt from public access and disclosure, such as information related to physical or digital security, sensitive personal information and records that are restricted by federal law.

The bill, SB 196, sponsored by Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, would require that requests for public records receive an acknowledgement within six business days. The office would have 16 business days to make a decision to approve, deny or deny in part the request. If denied, the agency would need to provide a reason.

However, law enforcement agencies have often used the exception, sometimes referred to as the dead suspects loophole, to withhold information in cases in which suspects die in police custody or at the hands of police officers. KXAN-TV, an Austin television station, published an extensive series on the practice in 2018.