Good News.
Read this:
Gov. backs off plan on public-records fees
Gov. Ed Rendell is backing away from a plan to let state agencies charge people extra for the cost of redacting nonpublic information from public records, a spokesman said Friday.
Rendell recently issued a management directive allowing charges for the labor involved in retrieving and redacting records, but that conflicted with a new fee policy established by Terry Mutchler, director of the state Office of Open Records.
Read the rest here:
http://www.timesleader.com/news/In_brief_12-06-2008.html
Read more about How to Use a Public Records Database
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
How To Search for Public Records Online
If you're interested in knowing more about public records, you may find this article interesting:
Learn what you can and can't find out about gov't records
By Staff Reports
December 03, 2008
EAST STROUDSBURG — Are school superintendent contracts public record? Can I inspect a copy of a police report? Can a citizen obtain a 911 transcript? Are e-mails of the mayor and borough council public record? Are township supervisors' cell phone records available for inspection? How much can a public body charge to photocopy public records? Can a local agency be fined if it doesn't comply with the law?
Terry Mutchler, executive director of the new Office of Open Records, will answer these questions and others during a two-hour training for citizens and public officials of Monroe and Pike counties.
The training will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday in Beers Lecture Hall at East Stroudsburg University. Admission is free.
Read the rest here: http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081203/NEWS/812030332
Read more about how to Search for Public Records Online
Learn what you can and can't find out about gov't records
By Staff Reports
December 03, 2008
EAST STROUDSBURG — Are school superintendent contracts public record? Can I inspect a copy of a police report? Can a citizen obtain a 911 transcript? Are e-mails of the mayor and borough council public record? Are township supervisors' cell phone records available for inspection? How much can a public body charge to photocopy public records? Can a local agency be fined if it doesn't comply with the law?
Terry Mutchler, executive director of the new Office of Open Records, will answer these questions and others during a two-hour training for citizens and public officials of Monroe and Pike counties.
The training will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday in Beers Lecture Hall at East Stroudsburg University. Admission is free.
Read the rest here: http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081203/NEWS/812030332
Read more about how to Search for Public Records Online
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Perform a Public Records Check? not with theses sherrifs
Hey,
You may find this article interesting:
Sheriffs go too far in fighting public records
By the Union-Bulletin Editorial Board
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Many sheriff's departments in Oregon, including Umatilla County, have embarked on a campaign to get people with concealed weapons permits to sign letters or documents asking that the public record of the permit not be made available to the public.It's not often you'll find law enforcement officials lobbying people to take advantage of what may be a temporary loophole in the law.Oregon law considers concealed weapons permits public records and it says so on the permit form. Or at least it did until some departments removed that reference and added a box to check to keep the information confidential.
The waters became muddied when a Jackson County Circuit Court judge ruled that personal security could be a reason to exempt the concealed-weapons records from public scrutiny.The issue is now in the Court of Appeals, where there is a very good chance the decision will be reversed. The state's security provision was intended to apply to broad public situations, such as plans to thwart terrorists or to protect City Hall.
According to The Oregonian, this exemption has never been applied to private parties.Instead of waiting for this to work its way through the court process, the sheriff's departments are attempting to bring political pressure by scaring permit holders.
What they aren't telling them is the permits have always been open to the public, just like marriage licenses, hunting licenses, business licenses and plumber licenses...
Read more here: http://www.union-bulletin.com/articles/2008/12/01/opinion/daily_editorial/081201editorial.txt
Steps to Perform a Public Records Check
You may find this article interesting:
Sheriffs go too far in fighting public records
By the Union-Bulletin Editorial Board
getBylinePhoto("byline");
Many sheriff's departments in Oregon, including Umatilla County, have embarked on a campaign to get people with concealed weapons permits to sign letters or documents asking that the public record of the permit not be made available to the public.It's not often you'll find law enforcement officials lobbying people to take advantage of what may be a temporary loophole in the law.Oregon law considers concealed weapons permits public records and it says so on the permit form. Or at least it did until some departments removed that reference and added a box to check to keep the information confidential.
The waters became muddied when a Jackson County Circuit Court judge ruled that personal security could be a reason to exempt the concealed-weapons records from public scrutiny.The issue is now in the Court of Appeals, where there is a very good chance the decision will be reversed. The state's security provision was intended to apply to broad public situations, such as plans to thwart terrorists or to protect City Hall.
According to The Oregonian, this exemption has never been applied to private parties.Instead of waiting for this to work its way through the court process, the sheriff's departments are attempting to bring political pressure by scaring permit holders.
What they aren't telling them is the permits have always been open to the public, just like marriage licenses, hunting licenses, business licenses and plumber licenses...
Read more here: http://www.union-bulletin.com/articles/2008/12/01/opinion/daily_editorial/081201editorial.txt
Steps to Perform a Public Records Check
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Public records dispute in Florida
Here's an interesting article I found about Public records issue in Florida:
We think: Florida needs to embrace — not reject — open public-records policy
We think: Florida needs to embrace -- not reject -- open public-records policy
November 30, 2008
On paper, Florida has a great reputation for allowing the average resident wide-ranging access to public records. There's even an "Open Government Bill of Rights" that says so.But perception is not reality.The evidence is found in three consecutive statewide audits, in which more than 40 percent of local agencies failed to comply with the law. In the most-recent audit, 43 percent of agencies didn't properly respond to public-records requests for something as simple as budget-related e-mails.The audit was conducted by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, which dispatched reporters and volunteers to 163 school-district, county-administrative and sheriff's offices in 56 of the state's 67 counties.
The abysmal report card includes the Jefferson County superintendent's office, which ran a license-plate number of a reporter from the Tallahassee Democrat. The intimidation factor wasn't nearly as egregious in Central Florida, but there's still plenty that went wrong.
Read the rest here:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-ed30108nov30,0,3155972.story
Learn about how to View Public Records Your Home
We think: Florida needs to embrace — not reject — open public-records policy
We think: Florida needs to embrace -- not reject -- open public-records policy
November 30, 2008
On paper, Florida has a great reputation for allowing the average resident wide-ranging access to public records. There's even an "Open Government Bill of Rights" that says so.But perception is not reality.The evidence is found in three consecutive statewide audits, in which more than 40 percent of local agencies failed to comply with the law. In the most-recent audit, 43 percent of agencies didn't properly respond to public-records requests for something as simple as budget-related e-mails.The audit was conducted by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, which dispatched reporters and volunteers to 163 school-district, county-administrative and sheriff's offices in 56 of the state's 67 counties.
The abysmal report card includes the Jefferson County superintendent's office, which ran a license-plate number of a reporter from the Tallahassee Democrat. The intimidation factor wasn't nearly as egregious in Central Florida, but there's still plenty that went wrong.
Read the rest here:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-ed30108nov30,0,3155972.story
Learn about how to View Public Records Your Home
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Public records are a gold mind of information
It's true,
Public records have a huge amount of useful information you can dig out and use to your own benefit.
What ever it is you need to know, you can probably locate at a public record of some sort.
For example, you can find out if a certain person had a criminal record in your state or another state.
You can find out if he is married or divorced. You can find out where he used to live 10 years ago. What jobs he had, what phone numbers he owned, and on and on....
Done right, public record search can save you a lot of effort, time and headaches. So it only makes sense to take advantage of this great tool we all have...
Click here to learn more about how to find public records
Public records have a huge amount of useful information you can dig out and use to your own benefit.
What ever it is you need to know, you can probably locate at a public record of some sort.
For example, you can find out if a certain person had a criminal record in your state or another state.
You can find out if he is married or divorced. You can find out where he used to live 10 years ago. What jobs he had, what phone numbers he owned, and on and on....
Done right, public record search can save you a lot of effort, time and headaches. So it only makes sense to take advantage of this great tool we all have...
Click here to learn more about how to find public records
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