Brechner News

Brechner Freedom of Information Project Director David Cuillier said the University of Michigan should be more responsive in providing records to people by the state-imposed deadline.

A recent survey by the Faculty Senate at Western Washington University found that a subset of faculty members has experienced harassment related to their areas of research – but little harassment through public records requests.

According to new figures out this week from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Information Policy, Freedom of Information Act requests have dramatically surged in the past year, along with denials and backlogs. 

The Iowa Legislature has passed House File 706, a bill that would add a new exemption to keep Capitol security camera footage confidential. 

As local newspapers continue to go out of business, researchers are turning to artificial intelligence to preserve historic image archives.

A West Virginia bill that was set to make last-minute changes to the state’s freedom of information law, allowing more copy fees, longer delays, and more secrecy, died this month before it reached Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s desk. 

The National Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame is back, under the leadership of the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. 

A recent study published in the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory examined the role of regulatory bodies' enforcement powers in building public trust. The research, conducted across several European countries, found that people showed slightly more trust in agencies regulating sectors like farming, banking, and health data when those agencies had the ability to impose large fines on violators. 

A bill clarifying aspects of Arkansas’ public meetings law has passed the Senate and is now heading to the governor’s desk. Senate Bill 227 specifies what city councils, quorum courts, and school boards can discuss outside of a public meeting. It also allows courts to nullify decisions made by a public body if those decisions violate open meetings laws. 

Journalists in the United Kingdom have become increasingly frustrated with roadblocks in acquiring public records, according to a study published in Journalism Practice. 

In Oklahoma, House Bill 2163, proposes the creation of a Public Access Counselor within the Office of the Attorney General to handle complaints related to denied public records. 

Citizen Documenters’ summaries of public meetings are more readable and useful to the public than agency meeting minutes, according to a study by Nina Kelly, a doctoral candidate at Wayne State University, published in the Journal of Civic Information.