Your right to public records

Public records are generally defined as records made or received in connection with the transaction of official business by any government agency, regardless of its physical form — so email is included.

 

This week, throughout our country, newspapers will judge government agencies on their compliance with public record laws. They will likely publish findings from experiments they have done, such as submitting the identical request for records to various agencies and evaluating the response from each.

 

Agencies tend to give reporters preferential treatment and prioritize their requests. After all, you can’t blame an agency for wanting to look good on the front page to taxpayers, so they tend to snap to attention when a reporter calls! The power of the pen is undeniable.

 

Newspapers get uptight when legislators propose exemptions to public records laws that limit their access to information. So, many times, during legislative sessions, you will see this see-saw of legislators filing bills to limit access and newspapers hollering back to get the politicos to back off.

 

But newspapers aren’t the only entity that these laws pertain to, citizens also have a right to public documents and a little education on the subject can go a long way to helping someone obtain material that they have a right to.

 

At the federal level, the federal law governing public records is called the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). On the state level, each state has its own set of laws and variations.

 

In Texas, laws are governed by the Texas Public Information Act and the Texas Open Meetings Act. These statutes originated some 40 years ago and have undergone updates through the years. In 2013, the Legislature updated them to incorporate the use of modern technology.

 

Reporters don’t have the market cornered on public records. These records also belong to taxpayers.

 

The information contained in public records comes in many varieties and include, for instance, discipline records from state licensing agencies on healthcare providers. You can use this to check on your doctor before you accept his prescription. Other types of public records include lawsuits, criminal cases, marriage and divorce records, property records and emails from local bureaucrats.

 

In many states, emails are public record. So, before you press “send” on your request for records, ask yourself: “Do I mind if this shows up on the front page of The New York Times?”

 

Most public agencies are polite and helpful and follow the law, and will give you your public records upon request. Some agencies, however, have attorneys guarding the hen house who are reluctant to hand over records. Just keep persisting and you will eventually obtain the public records you seek.

 

If you are uncertain whether information is a public record, don’t worry about it, just ask for it. You may just get it. If not, it is the responsibility of the agency to inform you why your request was denied. You may have to be patient. Usually you will get your records instantly, but the most extreme example I’ve run across was asking the Florida Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for criminal investigation records on a Florida psychiatrist, which I first requested in 2007 and I’m still waiting! I do reiterate the request occasionally, about every six months. I am told the records are not public because there is an ongoing criminal investigation.

 

Good luck in your search for public records.