Indiana transparency headlines
From Sunshine Review
This article is a list of transparency related news from Indiana.
County Public Records To Be Available Online
November 14, 2008: Kosciusko County Council voted Thursday to establish a fund for the county recorder's office to receive payments from a company making public records available online.
County Recorder Deb Wright told the council the county has a contract with online records company Doxpop to provide all county records that are public information, which Doxpop will make available on the Internet for a fee. Read the full article here.
County officials feud over coroner records
November 14, 2008: A dispute between Porter County Coroner Victoria Deppe and North Porter County Commissioner John Evans over records that he compiled when he was coroner years ago has erupted into a feisty war of words.
Deppe, a Democrat who took office at the start of 2007, has asked Evans, a Republican, to return records that he compiled when he was coroner in the years 1998, 1999 and 2000. Backing her up is the Indiana Public Records Commission. Read the full article here.
Councilwoman spends $40,400 for 'best in the business' video
November 10, 2008: A video production company owned by Otho Lyles III benefited in 2006 and 2007 from a Gary City Council promotional account that is meant to assist Gary's not-for-profit agencies.
Lyles pleaded guilty in 2004 to lying to federal investigators as they tried to root out corruption at Gary City Hall, and he served probation. He later pleaded guilty to a charge of tax evasion and as of February, records show, he owed more than $260,000 in federal taxes.
Carolyn Rogers, the 4th District's representative on the City Council, directed a total of $40,400 in City Council money toward Lyles' NPC LLC in 2006 and 2007, records show. Read the full article here.
Daniels Administration Too Cozy With Coal Industry?
October 29, 2008: Three leading U.S. and Indiana citizens/environmental groups - Hoosier Chapter Sierra Club, Citizens Action Coalition (Indiana CAC) and Valley Watch - today filed a public record disclosure request to compel the production of all documents and other records detailing "actions, public or non-public, that Governor Daniels and his Administration may have taken" to promote Duke Energy's proposed new power plant at Edwardsport. Read the full article here.
Noblesville School Board agrees to keep $83M budget details secret
October 20, 2008: At least four of the five Noblesville School Board members agree with Superintendent Lynn Lehman's decision to keep the district's budget under wraps until a Tuesday night public hearing.
Noblesville Schools will hold that public hearing for its $83.8 million budget at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the central office annex, 1775 Field Drive, but has released little information about how the money would be spent. This year's budget initially called for spending an estimated $81.7 million, but officials declined to provide updated information until Tuesday. Read the full article here.
Public has little access to teacher discipline records
September 28, 2008: Better background checks and stricter state oversight might do more to protect Indiana children from dangerous teachers, but other states have found that giving the public more information can be critical, too.
In Indiana, the public is barred from finding out so much information that it becomes impossible to tell how big -- or small -- the problem of teacher misconduct may be. Read the full article here.
Long Thompson wants probe of Daniels' planes use
September 10, 2008: Democrat Jill Long Thompson's campaign filed a complaint with the state Inspector General's office Wednesday seeking a formal investigation of Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels' election-year use of state aircraft.
The Democratic gubernatorial candidate's campaign also filed a public records request seeking Daniels' travel logs and the e-mails, phone records and time sheets of all state workers who may have helped plan his trips or traveled with him. Read the full article here.
No wrong done in records denial, access counselor says
September 10, 2008: Indiana open records law was not violated when the Jeffersonville Clerk-Treasurer’s office did not release credit card statements, according to an opinion recently issued by Indiana Public Access Counselor Heather Willis Neal.
The opinion followed a complaint by resident Mike Hutt, a former Jeffersonville City Council candidate, who had requested copies of credit card statements. Read the full article here.
Thompson challenges Daniels to disclose travel records
September 8, 2008: Gov. Mitch Daniels has until 10 a.m. Wednesday to publicly release his travel records before Jill Long Thompson asks the state inspector general to launch an investigation, the Democratic gubernatorial hopeful said here Monday.
Long Thompson issued the ultimatum about a week after her campaign called for the records to be open in reaction to a Fort Wayne Journal Gazette story on the governor’s travel. Read the full article here.
Randolph Central board's closed meeting violated law, according to open records office
August 14, 2008: When the Randolph Central School Board asked member Dana Cox to resign Tuesday, behind closed doors, it did so illegally, according to the Indiana Public Access Counselor's office.
Boards can meet in executive session to discuss some personnel issues, but that right doesn't extend to elected officials like Cox. Instead, such privacy is intended for employees and students. Read the full article here.
Complaint: Public records not released from Jeffersonville's Clerk-Treasurer's Office
August 9, 2008: Mike Hutt, a former Jeffersonville City Council candidate, has filed a formal complaint against the city’s Clerk-Treasurer’s Office, alleging that he was wrongly denied access to public records.
The office maintains that the documents being requested are not public record, but private property. Read the full article here.
J&C's request for more detailed records denied
August 8, 2008: Denison Parking, the company that manages parking for Lafayette, partially refused a J&C public records request recently when asked for data regarding parking violators.
The J&C filed a request on May 7 seeking detailed information on parking offenders, including their names, for the last 31/2 years.
After the company consulted with its in-house attorney and the Lafayette city attorney's office, the company concluded it could provide some of the information the J&C requested. Read the full article here.
Some question attorney's hiring by Greater Clark Schools Corporation
July 26, 2008:During the school board member comments portion of the Greater Clark County Schools board meeting June 10, member Ernie Gilbert made a series of motions — all of which passed — ultimately hiring Larry Wilder to serve as the board’s attorney.
[Board member] Christensen was taken by surprise by the vote.
“There was nothing for me to vote on,” Christensen said. “I didn’t have the contract in front of me or anything. I had nothing.” Read the full article here.
Lake County lagging on health data
July 25, 2008: The Lake County Health Department has failed to maintain mandatory Indiana public records for nearly seven years, department officials admitted this week.
Health Department Attorney Joe Irak confirmed the department never created a publicly accessible permanent record of Lake County deaths since the General Assembly passed a law requiring it in 2001. Read the full article here.
Freedom's just another word for a thing to hide
July 5, 2008: On this Fourth of July weekend, we celebrate our freedoms and the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
But it also should be a time when we remember that at every level of government -- local, state and federal -- our elected officials and civil servants regularly attempt to hide open records from citizens. Read the full story here.
Public access counselor says Muncie violated law
June 27, 2008: The city of Muncie gave The Star Press "a number of problematic reasons" for denial of access to a proposed street-paving list for 2008, Indiana Public Access Counselor Heather Willis Neal has concluded.
Responding to the newspaper's formal complaint alleging the city violated the Access to Public Records Act (APRA), Neal wrote in an advisory opinion that Mayor Sharon McShurley and City Attorney Frank Gilkison clearly violated APRA and that City Controller Mary Ann Kratochvil likely violated both APRA and a law protecting public records from destruction. Read the full story here.
IDEM provides missing cell phone records
June 25, 2008: After a three-month tug-of-war, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management finally released itemized phone records Monday for its top air quality manager for a period covering a hearing on an air permit for BP Whiting.
The agency said it did not release the information earlier due to a copying error. Read the full story here.
Clarksville drops 25 cent public record charge
June 21, 2008: Tom DeArk coughed up a couple of quarters last summer when the Clarksville Town Council passed an ordinance that put a 25-cent-per-page charge on copies of public documents.
The first thing he paid for was a copy of the very ordinance that put the charge in place.
DeArk, a self-described “policy wonk” and constant requester of town records, considered the fee excessive, arguing that state law did not allow Clarksville to factor in labor and overhead costs. Read the full story here.
IDEM releases some, not all, records
June 18, 2008: The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has released more itemized phone records for its managers. But the agency still refuses to reveal whom its top air quality boss called for five days around a public hearing on BP Whiting's air permit in Hammond on March 14.
The Post-Tribune requested itemized phone records for IDEM's Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Air Quality, Dan Murray, from Feb. 1 through March 20. IDEM previously claimed not to possess itemized cell phone records for Murray. Read the full story here.
