Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act
From Sunshine Review
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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] Recent news
[edit] Transparency blocking
- Open-records bill approved by Rhode Island House
- R.I. House to vote on bill protecting deadly force offenders
- School’s legal bills under wraps
More transparency blocking news from across the country.
[edit] Litigation
- Carcieri must turn over documents
- RI town sued over alleged open records violation
- State ordered to give records to union
More FOIA litigation news from across the country.
[edit] Legislation
- Coalition seeks to open birth records in R.I.
- Governor has qualms over release of names, vetoes public records bill
- Carcieri vetoes ‘sunshine’ bill, 21 others
More FOIA legislation news from across the country.
[edit] Sunshine Guardians
Other Sunshine Guardians from across the country.
[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%. [1]
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.[2]
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".[3]
[edit] Features of the law
[edit] What records are covered?
Rhode Island law includes all documents, no matter their physical form that are "made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any agency". [4]
Notable exemptions include but are not limited to:
- Personal records of any individuals that would release private contact information, "medical treatment, welfare, employment security, pupil records, all records relating to a client/attorney relationship", excluding, "with respect to employees, the name, gross salary, salary range, total cost of paid fringe benefits, gross amount received in overtime, and other remuneration in addition to salary, job title, job description, dates of employment and positions held with the state or municipality, work location, business telephone number, the city or town of residence, and date of termination shall be public".[4]
- Pension records
- Trade secrets
- Child custody records
- Law enforcement records
- "Any records which would not be available by law or rule of court to an opposing party in litigation." [4]
- Security information
- Charitable donor information
- Collective bargaining
- "Preliminary drafts, notes, impressions, memoranda, working papers, and work products; provided, however, any documents submitted at a public meeting of a public body shall be deemed public"[4]
- Elected officials
- Property appraisals for potential purchases
- Tax returns
- Investigations of public bodies
- Library records
- Credit card and account numbers
[edit] What agencies are covered?
Rhode Island law includes all branches of government at the state and local levels as well as all groups acting on behalf of those government agencies.[5]
[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. [6]
[edit] Must a purpose be stated?
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] How can records be used?
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.[7]
[edit] Time allowed for response
- See also: Request response times by state.
Rhode Island law allows 7 days to return open records requests.
[edit] Fees for records
Rhode Island law allows the charging of fees which can include the cost of duplication as well as the cost of the labor involved in the search not to include the first hour of search and not to exceed $15 an hour.[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] Proposed changes
[edit] Relevant legal cases
- See also: Court cases with an impact on state FOIA
Here is a list of lawsuits in Rhode Island. For more information go the page or go to Rhode Island sunshine lawsuits.
(The cases are listed alphabetically. To order them by year please click the icon to the right of the Year heading)
| Lawsuit | Year |
|---|---|
| Providence Journal Co. v. Sundlun | 1992 |
[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.[1]
[edit] Notable requests
[edit] See also
- Rhode Island FOIA procedures
- Rhode Island transparency advocates
- Rhode Island transparency legislation
[edit] External links
- Access to Public Records Act
- Open Meetings Act
- Open Government Guide to Rhode Island
- Past articles on Rhode Island
[edit] References
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