Sunshine Review:Writing articles about open records procedures

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In order to record the steps to reporting open record requests we suggest the following steps:

[edit] Making open records requests user friendly

Most open record laws are written in 'legalese,' which in turn makes it unreadable to all but those with a law degree.

We'd like to create a Basic Procedures manual to filing open records requests in every state.

Some suggested sections to break the law into:

  • Basic Procedures
  • Letter requirements
  1. The specific citation for your state's open records law and
  2. How much time the law allows for an agency to respond. Where no time is specified by law, suggest reasonable times for the request to be filled for you or where no time is specified by law, most courts have required that government officials respond within a "reasonable time."
  3. Wny specific penalties provided for by the law should government officials fail to comply with your request.
  • Contact Information for the FOIA contacts in your state
  • Fee limit suggestions
  • Tactics on how to best collect information

[edit] External links

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