News

OpenText receives latest Records Management DOD 5015.2 certifications

OpenText (NASDAQ: OTEX, TSX: OTC), a global leader in enterprise information management (EIM), today announced OpenText Records Management has obtained DOD 5015.2-Chapter 4 Freedom of Information and Privacy Act (FOIA/PA) Certification, a global benc ...

FOIA pledge garners more signatures, but none locally

A pledge circulated by advocates of government transparency to garner support for the state’s Freedom of Information Act has yielded additional signatures since it was reissued earlier this month. None of the latest round of signatures came f ...

NMU waives FOIA fee for the North Wind

Northern Michigan University’s student newspaper won’t have to pay a fee to get administration e-mails through the Freedom of Information Act. North Wind editor-in-chief Emma Finkbeiner said the emails were sought to investigate what sh ...

Editorial: Gov. signs bill to hold down FOIA costs

The people who really need the Freedom of Information Act are members of the general public — you and me. The so-called "average Joes." When dealing with a reluctant official unwilling to hand out information about the functioning of government, it is the FOIA that spells out what information should be available to the general public and how it should be turned over. read more ...

Public records class available for free on attorney general’s website

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has announced the availability of a free, online class on the state’s transparency and public record laws. The classes have been available as in-person lessons since 2011, but a demand for remote training pro ...

Colorado chief judge requests tax money, won’t discuss how it’s spent

Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Nancy Rice asked the Legislature last week for more tax money, but afterwards declined to discuss why the judiciary exempted itself from state open records laws, including how her department spends the hundreds of millions of tax dollars it currently receives ...

Editorial: Newport News erects obstacles to access by imposing excessive costs for documents

The Tech Center at Oyster Point development was promoted as a critical economic development initiative with the potential to create a good many jobs. Its construction will radically change one of the most prominent intersections in Newport News. And ...

New law in Michigan keeps FOIA requests cheap

Last week, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law changes to the Freedom of Information Act. That’s the law that allows people to access government records — everything from how much the mayor makes to police reports to information on ...

Opinion: When governments open their files, the public benefits

IN EARLY December, President Obama announced a series of measures aimed at closing the gap between citizens and law enforcement. One of those measures was a plan to distribute $263 million in funding for agencies to purchase body cameras that can be ...

New online portal makes open-records requests easier

People seeking to request open records from state agencies can now go online to do so. State administrators opened the Open Records Portal at http://openrecords.utah.gov last week in an effort to make it easier for residents to identify which agenc ...