Open The Records, But Limit The Access To Gatekeepers
Posted on March 21, 2009 at 3:56 pmPhil Williams struggles to find a compromise on handgun permit open records:
Of course, there are some gun-rights advocates who think no one should have access to any of that information — no how, no way — and, for them, there’s no sense even talking about compromise.
But others, like Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, have expressed an interest in finding middle ground — which is where I find myself, professionally and personally.
For years, NewsChannel 5 has obtained a database of every gun-permit holder in the state of Tennessee. But, unlike other news organizations, we never considered posting the raw data on the Internet so that people could look up their neighbors. Weighing the potential benefit versus the potential invasion of privacy, we came down on the side of privacy.
What we did, however, was to responsibly use the data to expose how state government was failing in its responsibility to protect the public.
Using that database, we matched the full names and dates of birth of the permit holders against the full names and dates of birth of convicted felons from another state database.
UPDATE: Williams takes issue with this blog posting in the comments:
Headline is extremely misleading. I never said “limit access to gatekeepers.” I just laid out what I, as a journalist, need to be able to perform the same watchdog function as I do today.
The Drew Johnson Amendment
Posted on December 17, 2008 at 2:10 pmThe Office of Open Records Counsel met today with its advisory committee to help shape policy to deal with folks who make frequent and multiple requests for public records:
Under the policy, records custodians may assess a fee for any labor reasonably necessary to produce the request after one hour. Requests for items that are routinely released and readily accessible, such as agendas or minutes, are exempt from the policy.
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The Blackburn Campaign Tries To Root Out A Snitch
Posted on June 11, 2008 at 8:38 amA Marsha Blackburn campaign volunteer, who requested “volumnious” public documents and emails regarding Congressman Blackburn’s primary opponent Shelby County Register Tom Leatherwood, wants to know how a newspaper got wind of his request.
It would seem the volunteer did not appreciate the violation of privacy. Open record requests, of course, are just as open as the record being sought:
In April, a volunteer for Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s campaign asked for thousands of pages of documents about Republican primary challenger and Shelby County Register Tom Leatherwood, including all county e-mails since 2001.
After The Commercial Appeal wrote about the request, the campaign volunteer, Tyler E. Jones, asked the county for the name and job title of the person who received the request and provided the information to The CA.
Jones said he was interested in finding out how the newspaper “learned about my open-records request.”
In a response dated May 28, Asst. County Atty. Craig E. Willis informed Jones that all record requests are also public records. He went on to say that Jones’ followup letter did not meet the criteria for a records request under Tennessee code.
SEE ALSO: Grantham Is Talking
Some Expensive Emails
Posted on May 27, 2008 at 7:35 amDrew Johnson of the Tennessee Center For Policy Research is once again knee deep in a controversy over open records requests:
Revenue officials gave Mr. Johnson a choice. Department employees could go through the e-mails themselves for free, or the state’s Office for Information Resources could do it at a cost of $3,201 for each day of correspondence, they said.
“The issue here, of course is that if someone has an embarrassing term … on their computer, they’re not going to just turn it over. They would delete the e-mail,” said Mr. Johnson, who heads up the Nashville-based anti-tax group. “The only way to have an external person check e-mails to ensure that every e-mail is actually turned over is through an electronic master tape.”
Sophie Moery, a spokeswoman for the Revenue Department, said the Office for Information Resources sets the price. She said officials made sure to offer Mr. Johnson the option of getting information for free.
“We certainly would not want to leave him with the only option of an expensive search,” she said.
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No Heads Up For Public Officials On Open Records Requests
Posted on May 14, 2008 at 3:25 pmFrom the AP:
A requirement to notify elected officials about records requests made about them is no longer part of a bill designed to improve access to public information.
Open government advocates had worried the notification rules would increase the cost of the records proposal and possibly kill the measure for the year.
A House subcommittee on Wednesday approved the change to the proposal sponsored by Rep. Steve McDaniel, a Parkers Crossroads Republican. It also approved a provision to allow records custodians to charge for searches that take longer than five hours.
But the proposal also directs the open records ombudsman to develop a reasonable fee schedule, which would become the statewide standard once it is approved.
MORE: John Rodgers
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Open Meetings Give Rise To The Chuckleheads
Posted on April 25, 2008 at 8:38 amKen Whitehouse argues that it wouldn’t drive a steak through the heart of our republican form of government for pols to close a meeting door every once and again.
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