Nevada transparency headlines
From Sunshine Review
This article is a list of transparency related news from Nevada.
Judge issues order in Gibbons e-mail lawsuit
October 22, 2008: A district judge has ordered Gov. Jim Gibbons to answer a Reno newspaper’s lawsuit seeking his state e-mails for a six-month period.
District Judge William Maddox today directed Gibbons to either produce the records for the Reno Gazette-Journal or provide the reasons for the refusal. Gibbons has until Nov. 14 to reply to the suit filed in District Court in Carson City Tuesday. Maddox has set Nov. 26 for a hearing to address why he should not issue a writ to force the governor to release the records. Read the full article here.
Nevada governor sued
October 21, 2008: The Reno Gazette-Journal filed a public records lawsuit against Gov. Jim Gibbons on Tuesday, seeking a court order compelling Gibbons to release certain e-mail correspondence under Nevada's public records law.
The Carson City District Court lawsuit was filed after Gibbons' lawyer, Chris Nielsen, rejected a June 4 public records request from the newspaper for six months of e-mail from the governor's state account. Read the full article here.
ACLU Says CCSD Blocking Public Records
October 15, 2008: An attorney for a government watchdog group said the Clark County School District is making it cost-prohibitive to obtain public records.
American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada lawyer Lee Rowland called the district's demand that Karen Gray pay more than $4,000 for school trustee e-mail and cell phone records a de-facto ban on releasing the records.
A district lawyer called the fee reasonable for finding and providing a year's worth of records. Article here.
EDITORIAL: Public records assault
September 29, 2008: A few weeks back, we raised some concerns -- based on their one-line summaries -- about a few bill drafts requested by the state Supreme Court.
On Thursday, more details emerged about the proposals -- and it's clear our concerns were warranted.
One measure would exempt the courts from a 2007 bill that put teeth into the state's public records law by imposing a timetable on public agencies for responding to records requests. Read the full editorial here.
Judge outlines legislative plans
September 24, 2008: Nevada judges will ask the 2009 Legislature to exempt them from new laws ensuring access to certain public records, and let the judicial branch of government set its own rules governing such access.
One of several draft measures submitted to lawmakers in advance of the session would exempt the courts from a 2007 law that set timetables for government agencies to respond to requests for public records.
Justice Jim Hardesty said Wednesday that lawmakers who worked on the 2007 law didn't intend for it to apply to the judicial branch of government. Read the full article here.
Report dissects government spending
September 24, 2008:' A conservative think tank has rolled out a "piglet" book that outlines what the group calls wasteful spending at all levels of Nevada government along with a call for greater transparency in public finances.
The Nevada Policy Research Institute's "Nevada Piglet Book 2008" has examples of "egregious" and "downright ridiculous" expenditures, said spokesman Andy Matthews everything from millions of dollars in health care overpayments by the state to $3,000 for trinkets bearing names of Las Vegas City Council members. Read the full article here.
EDITORIAL: Scrutinize open records exemption
September 7, 2008: The list of bill draft requests released by Nevada's Legislative Counsel Bureau this far ahead of next spring's legislative session is traditionally quite sketchy. The bills to be considered by the 2009 Legislature are still being drafted, after all.
But the one-line summaries can give an indication of which proposals may be worth keeping an eye on.
The brief summary of Bill Draft 408 reads "Exempts Judiciary from public records requirements applicable to other branches of government."
Number 409? "Expands sentencing discretion in specialty courts, also in sealing records."
And there's even less information available on BDR 410, identified simply as the "2009 Judicial Security Act." Read the full editorial here.
V&T commission criticized for not producing data on acquisitions
August 7, 2008: A candidate for Carson City supervisor criticized some officials of the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway for not making records available for scrutiny.
Dennis Johnson of Carson City said that on July 20 he asked to review records and the cost of those acquisitions, and received no response. Read the full article here.
Governments lobbying governments
June 12, 2008: State and local governments in Nevada spend millions each year lobbying other levels of the government, and taxpayers get little if anything in return.
Open records requests and federal database research conducted by the Nevada Policy Research Institute have found that a significant amount of taxpayer money is spent on questionable lobbying activities. Read the full story here.
