Consider this a guide to understanding the so-called sunshine laws that deal with open government, how you can use them and what to do if you hit obstacles.

The first thing to remember is that you have a right to know.

Government documents – budgets, environmental studies, contracts – are yours to see. The same goes for meetings of elected bodies. If your town board or city council is meeting, you are allowed to sit and listen.

There are exemptions – times when documents or meetings can be closed – such as when it comes to security issues or private employee matters. But for the most part, open government laws guarantee that you’re entitled to know what your government is doing.

Let’s say now that you want a specific piece of information – a town budget or a list of city council members’ salaries, for instance, how do you get it?

The simplest way is to ask for it, which often involves going to the relevant government office and verbally making your request.

If the officials you’re dealing with turn you down, you can politely remind them of Maine’s Freedom of Access Act. Sometimes that’s enough to make them more cooperative.

Let’s say officials still say no. Then you can make a formal, written request for what you want: Cite the law, what information you seek and, if your state has a time limit to answer you, remind your officials that they only have so many days to respond in writing. Make sure to keep copies of or notes on every request you make.

If officials still say no, they must give a reason. If you don’t believe those reasons fit the exemptions in the sunshine law, you’ve still got options. But what path you choose depends on the state where you live.

For more information, visit the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition Web site at www.mfoic.org or the Society of Professional Journalists at www.spj.org/foicenters.asp.

For requests of the federal government, a good resource is the National Security Archive at www2.gwu.edu/nsarchiv/nsa/foia.html. It has details on the law, its history, exemptions and sample letters to send to federal agencies.

One warning: Fighting for your rights can be costly. Government agencies, whether federal, state or local, may ask you to pay fees to cover the costs of retrieving or copying records.