A move for transparency

A major step towards governmental transparency happened this past week, as Governor Gordon signed into law Senate File 57. This establishes a deadlines for when public records must be made available and sets up a governor designated ombudsman to receive complaints regarding violation of the Public Records Act.

The law doesn’t take effect for a few more months, but when it does it will provide the public with more power to hold their government accountable.

We regularly publish public notices, such as meeting minutes, notices of sales and, in this particular edition, the salary schedule for the school district. While these notices are regularly presented to us in a timely manner there have been instances when we’ve run into delays in the sharing of this information. Though such cases are handled by our staff, and the notices and records do get to us eventually, the new law gives us a bit more sway in holding our local government entities accountable to sharing their information.

But that added power doesn’t just extend to members of the media or other individuals who might be seen as privileged. It’s for us all, and it’s important to exercise this right.

If you’ve got a question or concern about what our government is doing, don’t hesitate to go to the officials and request public records. Of course, they can’t just drop everything and get to your request — provisions in the new law are there to ensure the regular duties of government offices are not interfered upon — but they must still provide records in a timely manner.

Additionally, if the records are not available within that time you must be provided with notification of why.

Many people don’t realize just how readily accessible public records are. In most cases you don’t need special clearance, to make a payment or be part of a privileged class. You only have to make that request, and you’ll find that, at least on the local level, our courts and town and county offices are more than ready and willing to share information.

In those cases where you feel like you’re being denied access to a document you think should be open, the law sets up a process to handle such complaints and determine whether the records are truly privileged or public.

So, don’t think for a minute that you have to jump through hoops to get to the public records. They’re designated “public” for a reason, and if you want to dig a little deeper into issues that concern you the new law gives you a pretty good shovel.