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April 27, 2018
Washington State
- Lawmakers make progress, but want more after session
- Centralia, Longview Senators provide calendars after public records request
- Opinion: Dark clouds or sunshine in the forecast: You decide
Outside Washington State
Laws, Legislation, and Policy
- New rules would disclose judges’ names in settlement agreements – CA
- Open-records advocates say bill to seal minors’ autopsy reports could obscure CPS failings – CO
- Bill provides accurate public safety data quickly, transparently – AZ
In The Courts
- Two AGs known for transparency hired in Atlanta open records cases – GA
- How an Oregon weekly forced release of key records in murder cases – OR
- Appeals court upholds insurance records exemption – FL
- Bus company to pay legal fees in LA public records case – CA
- School district loses bid for nearly $450,000 in attorney’s fees over public records suit – CA
Transparency & Withholding
- FOIA advisers push for more proactive disclosure – USA
- EPA to conduct ‘full review’ of information requests for Pruitt records – USA
- Former County manager redacted her own receipts. Did she violate public records law? – NC
- Advocates push to open Legislature’s records – MA
- Editorial: Sunshine at City Hall (and the State House, and the Old Courthouse …) – MD
- Here are the “Transparency” policy documents the EPA does not want you to see – USA
Privacy, Security, and Technology
- Is scraping files from a Freedom of Information website ‘hacking’? – USA
- How technology can bring transparency to India’s divided supreme court – International
Records Management & Archives
- Texas Supreme Court moving case files on microfiche into the digital age – TX
- Atlanta Spent $2.6M to Recover From a $52,000 Ransomware Scare – GA
April 20, 2018
Washington State
- Jefferson County commissioners settle public records act violation complaint
- JLARC posts updated Public Records Data Collection guidance (4/4/2018)
- Editorial: Sexual misconduct complaints against lawmakers should be public
- Kurt Cobain’s widow and daughter fight to stop release of singer’s death images
Outside Washington State
Laws, Legislation, and Policy
- City of Loveland to begin talks to change open records practices – CO
- NRA praises new Nebraska law exempting gun records from disclosure – NE
- Wyoming school district’s new public-records policy ‘Far Cry’ from law language – WY
In The Courts
Transparency & Withholding
- Communities are putting checkbooks online, but not many are looking
- Transparency committee takes on UO records policy – OR
- EPA Administrator has four government email addresses, which is three more than he needs
- Can they really delete that tweet? A weird, tedious, infuriating attempt to track down federal agency policies – USA
- Local lawmakers have mixed feelings on public record requirements – MA
Fees, Costs, and Burdensome Requests
Privacy, Security, and Technology
Records Management & Archives
- Reducing file share dependencies: one office’s approach – International (Australia)
- Better IG means better e-Discovery outcomes-Part I: E-Discovery in the Big Data Era
April 13, 2018
Washington State
- MRSC: Why are we (sometimes) so protective of public records?
- Editorial: Clatskanie School District should release principal’s discipline records
- South Sound 911 launches redesigned website, public records access
- State says ‘no’ to representing Tri-City judges suing County clerk over converting to all-digital documents
Outside Washington State
Laws, Legislation, and Policy
- Clark killing prompts bid to open Police disciplinary records – CA
- Proposal would expand public access to North Dakota court records – ND
- Anti-sexual harassment bills stall in Louisiana Senate over public record concerns – LA
- Bills forbid release of student phone numbers and emails without consent – VA
- 5 ways police shooting investigations could become more transparent – CA
- Board chair says it won’t reconsider new restrictions on University foundation records – MT
In The Courts
Transparency & Withholding
- Editorial: Public records violations criminal; everyone in local government should be paying close attention – GA
- Institute challenges legislature’s broad exemption from public records law as unconstitutional – MA
- Erosion of Sunshine Laws in Florida continued over past year – FL
- Editorial: Public email for public business – OR
- Legislature’s records exemption shields data on misconduct – MA
- Rep. used personal email in severance agreement, threatened news outlet for disclosure – CT
- License plate surveillance company attacks nonprofits for filing FOIA requests – USA
- AP finds legislatures lack public records on harassment – USA
Fees, Costs, and Burdensome Requests
Privacy, Security, and Technology
- Oregon county, state clash over list of pot grow sites – OR
- How the FBI uses the Freedom of Information Act to track down whistleblowers – USA
- Danish security service kept ‘deleted’ data in secret archive: report – International
- Congress Requires Publication of CRS Reports – USA
- The role of technology in law enforcement public outreach and transparency
- Portion of redacted Harvard admissions data will become public – MA
- 1.5 billion sensitive files exposed by misconfigured servers, storage and cloud services – International
Records Management & Archives
- Blog: 10 things I didn’t learn in archives school
- ATF keeping shoddy records for munitions and explosives, inspector general finds – USA
- Crafting your archives elevator speech
- Is enterprise content management dead? Make way for content services
- ‘Off the Record’ Archivist blog: Negotiating salaries
April 6, 2018
Washington State
- Legislation ‘classic mistake:’ House GOP chief talks about public records, 24th District
- Editorial: SB 6199 blow against transparency
- Judge permanently blocks release of unredacted records on former community college president
- Disclosure vs transparency – legislature public disclosure bill
- Editorial: Democrats were sent to Olympia to make laws, not wiggle around them
Outside Washington State
Laws, Legislation, and Policy
- Mayor to push for reforms to law protecting NYPD disciplinary records from release – NY
- Justice Department defends CLOUD Act, a controversial new data-storage law – USA
- Federal News Radio: How to avoid and deal with FOIA lawsuits – USA
In The Courts
- Nevada high court rules private devices subject to open records law – NV
- Clark County DA must make witness payment records public – NV
- Judge: Feds’ files in Wetterling kidnapping case must be returned to FBI – MN
- Police can refuse to say whether records exist, New York’s highest court rules – NY
Transparency & Withholding
- Two cities: Denver and Sacramento. Two police shootings. Two different stances on access to video – CO
- Mueller’s office defends deal with Dutch lawyer to waive public records rights – USA
- Open records can protect your health – WI
- Open government means open courts (Reporters Committee)
- Opinion: County wrong to delay release of restaurant inspections – PA
- Want records from past governors? Get ready to wait – VA
- Watchdog group questions legality of commissioner’s deleted texts – GA
Fees, Costs, and Burdensome Requests
- High cost of accessing public records is a barrier to democracy, experts say – International (Canada)
- West Chester spent $152,000 on a government transparency tool. Why it’s not yet fully functional – OH
- $32,000 and 3-year wait: reporters share about trying to access public documents in Canada – International
Privacy, Security, and Technology
- Student privacy laws have been distorted (and that’s a problem)
- Debating secrecy for Spaceport America customers – NM
- State is foolishly letting children sign away their data rights – International (Ireland)
- With paper and phones, Atlanta struggles to recover from cyber attack – GA
- I asked Facebook and Google for all the information they had on me. This is what I discovered
Records Management & Archives