Let the Sunshine In: How Much Do You Know About the Sunshine Act?
Are you smarter than a journalist?
As part of Sunshine Week, which starts on Sunday and goes through March 17, try testing your freedom of information knowledge online.
The Sunshine Week organization has a game for you to "learn about why open government and freedom of information in the U.S. is to be cherished and held to high standards."
The interactive Ray of Sunshine game gives players a reward at the end, allowing you to brag about your success on Facebook and Twitter.
In the spirit of transparency and openness, I took the interactive quiz and was given the "You're a Ray of Sunshine" award by Sunshine Week.
Understanding the Freedom of Information Act will get you only so far, however, when you are on a quest for information. You also need to be familiar with the Missouri Sunshine Law for anything regarding state or local governments.
The state attorney general's office also has an online quiz to test your knowledge.
On this test I correctly answered 10 out of 11 multiple-choice questions.
If you want to brush up on your knowledge before taking the quizzes, Sunshine Week provides resources about freedom of information online. The attorney general's office also provides sunshine law information, including a summary of the law, court decisions and a sample sunshine request form.
In addition to taking the quizzes, I challenge you to get involved by filing a freedom of information or sunshine request, or attend a public meeting. I would love to hear how everything turns out.
And if you dig up anything newsworthy, feel free to contact me anytime.
(One other transparency note: I’m scheduled to be on vacation during Sunshine Week. However, I will be attending a sunshine workshop by the Attorney General's Office in Jefferson City on Friday.)
By Brian R. Hook, brhook@missourijournal.com, (314) 482-7944
Hook is editor of Missouri Journal, which tracks the economy across the Show-Me State.
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Lisa K
10:55 am on Saturday, March 10, 2012
Thank you for posting the links to the quizzes on the attorney general's website. I found it very informative to look at both the quiz for the general public and the one for city officials.
Kim
10:04 pm on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
I have a question about what a reasonable charge for information is. I've only ever submitted one Sunshine request (for some invoices re. the 2011 U City Calendar mixup) and the charge was $89 plus a trip to City Hall to pick up the copies. That seemed like a lot to me. I know of another resident who asked to listen to a voice mail that was mentioned in a council meeting and had been played for other residents, and he was told it would cost $100. It seems as though some of the good intent behind Sunshine laws is lost when people can't afford to pay for the information they request. What is excessive, how do we know, and what sort of recourse is there if we feel the cost is indeed excessive?
Brian R. Hook
10:41 pm on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Fees can often be negotiated early in the process.
If it is a local government, the state attorney generals office can help.
However, if it is a state agency, some times the last resort is a lawsuit.
Usually, however, naming and shaming, will get the agency to cut the cost. -BRH
Kim
10:10 am on Thursday, March 15, 2012
Thanks for the info. Are there any published guidelines that can help an average citizen determine what is fair? in my case, I was given a statement detailing how it would take two employees three hours to find and copy the information I requested. This struck me as odd, since it would have been current information (within a few weeks) and the final product wouldn't have been more than a few pieces of paper. I didn't end up following through, because someone else had also requested the information and shared it, which begs another question: if multiple people are asking for the same information, shouldn't the cost go down? I have also heard complaints from people who have to submit multiple requests in order to get complete information. It strikes me as somthing of a cat-and-mouse game between residents and City Hall. Should we be copying the attormey general's office on every request? It seems extreme, but I think the measures residents have to go to in order to obtain information they are entitled to can also be extreme.
Brian R. Hook
10:27 am on Thursday, March 15, 2012
It often seems as if the objective is to make the requester give up.
The link to the state quiz also provides guidelines regarding fees.
I'm not sure copying the AG each time would be helpful.
Unfortunately, it is often more difficult than it needs to be.
Persistence often pays off in the end.
And if you have a specific request, I'd be happy to help with the process.
Feel free to email me at brhook@missourijournal.com.
Steve
10:39 am on Thursday, March 15, 2012
The law allows a fee for research and copying. These cannot exceed the average hourly rate of pay for clerical staff, and the charges for research cannot exceed the actual cost of research time. In U-City they do not separate the charges so you cannot tell what is the copy charge and what is the research. They do not document the research time other than to say it took ____ hours/minutes. They will also charge you for legal review at $175.00/hr if they do not know if they can release the record. I was recently asked for $500.00 in legal fees for review records which could be as little as no pages. The Law does not state that attorney's fees can be charged. Read it here http://ago.mo.gov/Open-Government.htm. The law also requires that, "Based on the scope of the request, the public governmental body shall produce the copies using employees of the body that result in the lowest amount of charges for search, research, and duplication time." It is not clear that the City does this. On some occasions, I have received records in an e-mail or was directed to where it could be found on line at no cost. On the voice mail issue it was stated that anyone who asked for it would be charged $100.00- even it they were just making a copy the voice mail which was already pulled off the phone. They also stated that you could not listen to the voice mail you had to have a copy. At least one court in the State has held that a person can inspect records without copy fees.
Kim
11:14 am on Thursday, March 15, 2012
Thanks Brian - I just might take you up on your offer!
Joe Scott
10:50 am on Thursday, March 15, 2012
The law allowing certain fees started because people would harass governments by asking for tons of information. However, it now is used to deter people requesting information by charging exorbitant fees and making claims that it takes more than one person hours and hours to locate the information. The fee can, at times, be reduced by offering to search records yourself. Whether they allow that often depends on the type of information you're researching.
Eileen Tyrrell
11:12 am on Thursday, March 15, 2012
Good point Joe, however, in the age of technology providing the public with vital information should be less costly.
Kim
11:16 am on Thursday, March 15, 2012
I agree with Eileen - why not have an online database where all documents that are open to the public can be posted and easily searched? I realize this would take time and money, but in UCity at least we have been hiring a bevy of consultants lately - why not spend some $ on a part-time clerk to oversee freedom of information?
gram Hollund
2:04 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012
The Saint Louis city police department was sued sucessfully . It was argued that electronic inspection should be free and only paper copies could be charged for with respect to incident reports / accident reports.
Cause NO. 1022-CC10551 division no. 31 22nd Judicial court.
Brian R. Hook
5:36 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012
University City is one of many listed in a recent state audit.
http://auditor.mo.gov/Press/2012-19.pdf
And here is a link to more info regarding governmental bodies & records:
http://ago.mo.gov/sunshinelaw/chapter610.htm
Brian R. Hook
1:36 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
No. - BRH