Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act

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The Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act (APRA) is a law, first enacted in 1979, that guarantees access to public records of government bodies at all levels in Rhode Island. The motivation behind the law, as expressed in its introduction, is, "The public's right to access to public records and the individual's right to dignity and privacy are both recognized to be principles of the utmost importance in a free society." [1]

APRA is defined in Chapter 38.2 of the Rhode Island General Laws; this chapter has 15 different subsections detailing aspects of APRA.

APRA was enacted in 1979, and then significantly revised in 1991, 1998 and 2008.

Rhode Island was the forty-ninth state to enact a FOIA law.

The Open Meetings Act legislates the methods by which public meetings are conducted.

[edit] Transparency report card

A 2008 study, BGA - Alper Integrity Index, conducted by the Better Government Association and sponsored by Alper Services, ranked Rhode Island #2 in the nation with an overall percentage of 63.40%. [2]

A 2007 study, Graded state responsiveness to FOI requests, conducted by BGA and the NFOIC, gave Rhode Island 66 points out of a possible 100, a letter grade of "D", and a ranking of 9 out of the 50 states.[3]

A 2002 study, Freedom of Information in the USA, conducted by IRE and BGA, ranked Rhode Island's law as the 13th worst in the country, giving it a letter grade of "C".[4]

[edit] Features of the law

[edit] Who may request records?

Main article: List of who can make public record requests by state.

Anyone may request public records in Rhode Island. "[E]very person or entity shall have the right to inspect" public documents. [5]

[edit] Purpose of request

Request for records may be made for any reason, according to Section §38-2-3 of the APRA. Section §38-2-3(h) clarifies that a public record cannot be withheld based on the purpose for the request, if the purpose is made known to the custodian of the record.

[edit] Restrictions on use

According to APRA §38-2-6, it is illegal to use information obtained from public records to "solicit for commercial purposes, or to obtain a commercial advantage over the party furnishing that information to the public body." People who violate this part of APRA can be criminally charged with up to a $500 fine and/or one year imprisonment, if their violation was knowing and willful.[6]

[edit] Days allowed for response

The law was amended in 2008 to reduce the number of days available to public agencies have to respond to public requests for records. The bill also better details the types of arrest record information police departments must release and when that information must be released.[7]

[edit] Lawsuits

[edit] North Smithfield, 2008

The Rhode Island affiliate of the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the North Smithfield police department in December 2008 accusing the department of violating the APRA by refusing to turn over an arrest report.

The suit alleges that a police dispatcher refused in November 2008 to give a community activist a copy of an arrest report related to a traffic stop. The ACLU says the dispatcher erroneously told the activist the report was off-limits until criminal charges were resolved. The suit seeks $1,000 in damages.[8]

[edit] Open meetings

"It is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that public business be performed in an open and public manner and that the citizens be advised of and aware of the performance of public officials and the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy."[9]

[edit] Relevant legal cases

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Rhode Island General Laws, Section 38-2-1
  2. ↑ Integrity Index available for download here
  3. ↑ Graded state responsiveness to FOI requests, 2007
  4. ↑ Freedom of Information in the USA, 2002
  5. ↑ Rhode Island General Laws, section 38-2-3
  6. ↑ APRA Chapter 38.2, Section 6
  7. ↑ Tennessee, Rhode Island improve open records laws
  8. ↑ New England Cable News (NECN), "RI town sued over alleged open records violation", December 4, 2008
  9. ↑ Rhode Island General Laws, section 42-46-1
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