News

NFOIC’s State FOIA Friday for July 19, 2013

From NFOIC: A few state FOIA and local open government news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier in the week. While you're at it, be sure to check out State FOIA Friday Archives. Toledo mayor refuses to release a police department gang-turf map read more ...

Denver launches financial transparency website, displays checkbook

From The Denver Post: Denver just opened the book on its finances. The city and county of Denver launched "Transparent Denver" on Wednesday afternoon, a website displaying city finances that before were only available through public-records requests and deeper digging. read more ...

Small California publisher wins public records case

From San Jose Mercury News: A state Court of Appeal has ruled that a small-town California newspaper publisher does not have to pay legal fees to a school board he sued over his public records request —a decision hailed by First Amendment ...

S.C. Supreme Court rules public bodies cannot say FOIA hurts speech

From Miami Herald: Public bodies in South Carolina cannot use the Freedom of Information Act to justify decisions not to release records or hold open meetings, the state's highest court ruled Wednesday. In a 3-2 decision, the state Supreme Court ruled that a circuit judge should not have allowed the South Carolina Association of School Administrators to argue that open records requirements harmed its members' free speech rights. [...] read more ...

FOIA requests may illustrate foreign despots’ access to U.S. surveillance devices

From Courthouse News Service: A federal judge may shine a light on foreign dictatorships that have imported illegal surveillance and jamming technology from the United States. Events from the so-called Arab Spring show that Middle Eastern dic ...

County transit district (Cal.) set to change email retention policy

From inewsource: In the midst of an inewsource investigation and with state and federal agencies eyeing its practices, the North County Transit District is considering a policy change that would direct employees to delete certain emails after 6 ...

Denver launches financial transparency website

From The Denver Post:  The city and county of Denver launched "Transparent Denver" on Wednesday afternoon, a website displaying city finances that before were only available through public-records requests and deeper digging. "It's meant to do a lot of things for our citizens," Mayor Michael Hancock said. "The goal is to build trust and transparency with the public." The site displays the city's financial reports, investments, residential- and business-property records, and city-owned properties for sale. It features a checkbook so citizens can see how the city is spending its tax dollars ...

Lawsuit claims Carolinas HealthCare System violated public records law

From CharlotteObserver.com: A Charlotte attorney contends in a lawsuit that one of the nation’s largest public hospital chains, Carolinas HealthCare System, has violated the state public records law by keeping secret the terms of a legal ...