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The debate over public records comes on the 50th anniversary of Missouri enacting its Sunshine Law, which is designed to ensure the public has access to government records and meetings (Getty Images).<\/p>\n
It would be harder \u2014 and more expensive \u2014 for the public to get access to some taxpayer-funded government records under legislation debated Thursday by a Missouri Senate committee.<\/span><\/p>\n The bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Andrew Koenig of Manchester, would <\/span>permit government agencies to withhold more information from the public<\/span><\/a> by creating new exemptions to Missouri\u2019s Sunshine Law to allow for a wider range of records to be closed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For example, the bill closes any record of a lawmaker or their staff pertaining to \u201clegislation or the legislative process,\u201d except for those offered during a public meeting or involving a lobbyist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Missouri Sunshine Law has been a great tool for citizens to be able to know how the government is acting and whether or not the government is following the law,\u201d Koenig said. <\/span>\u201cHowever, there has been some abuses over the years that go beyond its original intent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The definition in the Sunshine Law of a public meeting \u2014 \u201call matters which relate in any way to the performance of the public governmental body\u2019s functions or the conduct of its business\u201d \u2014 would be deleted under Koenig\u2019s bill.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Instead, a meeting of a governmental body will only be considered public if it includes deliberations about or action on official public business. Koenig said the change is to deal with a situation where, for example, a quorum of a public body is gathered without doing business, such as riding together in a car.<\/span><\/p>\n Jean Maneke, an attorney for the Missouri Press Association, worried that change would allow government bodies \u2014 city councils, school boards and others \u2014 to legally gather to discuss public business behind closed doors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTo me, those words mean if you\u2019re not taking the vote, you don\u2019t have to give public notice,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s a huge change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The bill also closes records held by the government pertaining to a constituent, though lobbyists wouldn\u2019t be covered under this provision. And it increases the time government agencies have to respond to an open records request, from three days to five.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Koenig said the changes are needed to protect constituent information, arguing that the Sunshine Law shouldn\u2019t be \u201cweaponized against constituents who wish to engage in communication with their elected officials.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Among the information that could be withheld, for example, would be individually identifiable information of any person who registers for a recreational or social activity sponsored by a public governmental body.<\/span><\/p>\n Critics of Koenig\u2019s bill argued Thursday that by weakening the protections of the Sunshine Law, lawmakers would be robbing Missourians of a tool they need to hold their government accountable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe public deserves to see how the sausage is made,\u201d said Echo Menges, president of the Missouri Sunshine Association and editor of the <\/span>Edina Sentinel<\/span><\/a>, later adding: \u201cThe Sunshine Law holds government accountable. If anything, it needs to be strengthened, whereas this bill weakens it considerably.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to giving government permission to withhold a new swath of previously public records, Koenig\u2019s bill would also open the door for government agencies to charge more for any records they do turn over.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Sunshine Law already permits governmental bodies to charge fees for research time and time staff spent to provide access to public records. Koenig\u2019s bill would allow agencies to charge for time attorneys spend redacting records as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Such a change would <\/span>reverse a 2021 Missouri Supreme Court ruling against Gov. Mike Parson<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Parson\u2019s office had been routinely charging massive fees for public records, citing the need for attorneys to redact information as the main reason. The court determined attorney review time was not \u201cresearch time\u201d under the Sunshine Law and thus could not be charged.<\/span><\/p>\n The unanimous ruling followed a lawsuit that accused Parson of improperly redacting records, charging exorbitant fees and knowingly and purposely violating the state\u2019s open records law.<\/span><\/p>\n After the ruling, the <\/span>governor\u2019s office began pushing for changes<\/span><\/a> to the Sunshine Law.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAll these exorbitant attorneys fees were illegal,\u201d Elad Gross, the attorney who sued Parson, testified on Thursday. \u201cSo the entire time I was litigating this case, those fees I was being charged to see these records and to have someone basically say you can\u2019t see these records, that was an illegal charge.<\/span><\/p>\n A huge fee for public records, Gross said, can be a \u201cmassive barrier to public participation in government.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Two other proposed changes to the Sunshine Law that raised alarms for transparency advocates have already been removed from the bill.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Koenig\u2019s bill originally created a new type of exemption to the Sunshine Law for \u201ctransitory records,\u201d which it defined as records that are not final documents or \u201cdo not have substantial administrative or operational value.\u201d It also exempted inter-agency or intra-agency memoranda or letters from the Sunshine Law.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Both provisions have been eliminated from the newest version of the legislation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The debate over public records comes on the 50th anniversary of Missouri enacting its Sunshine Law, which is designed to ensure the public has access to government records and meetings.<\/span><\/p>\n Pitching the bill to the Senate committee, Pat Kelly of the Municipal League of Metro St. Louis said one of its best provisions would protect citizens\u2019 data when they sign up for things like community newsletters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Missouri Highway Patrol and Missouri School Board Association joined in support of Koenig\u2019s legislation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The post Missouri lawmakers debate limiting access to some public government records<\/a> appeared first on Missouri Independent<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It would be harder \u2014 and more expensive \u2014 for the public to get access to some taxpayer-funded government records under legislation debated Thursday by a Missouri Senate committee. The bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Andrew Koenig of Manchester, would permit government agencies to withhold more information from the public by creating new exemptions to \u2026
\nThe post Missouri lawmakers debate limiting access to some public government records appeared first on Missouri Independent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_1316405950194966529_1316405950194966529":"","facebook_10227908901730409_331941356894613":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recent-sunshine-law-news"],"yoast_head":"\n