ENSURING PUBLIC ACCESS

A committee created last year has already improved access to public records, but a bill based on the group’s recommendations and another from the Senate minority leader would go even further toward ensuring that public documents are readily available.

LD 1822, based on the Right to Know Advisory Committee’s suggestions, would require that all elected officials receive training on the state’s Freedom of Access law. The committee is developing an online training program based on the state’s program for its employees and what other states provide. This training would be free to municipalities and would require little time.

The need for such training was highlighted by audits the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition has conducted in recent years, which found public documents were withheld about a quarter of the time.

A common problem, says Mal Leary, president of the coalition, is that some local officials and employees believe that town records belong to the town, not its residents or even those beyond the town line. Ensuring that officials understand that public documents must be made available to the public is an important first step.

At the state level, LD 1822 would create an ombudsman to ensure state agencies comply with the Freedom of Access law. The ombudsman would report regularly to the Legislature regarding the number of inquiries and complaints. The bill proposes a part-time position in the Attorney General’s Office at a cost of about $65,000 a year.

Rather than add this expense, albeit a small one, to the budget, the Right to Know Advisory Committee should look at alternatives, if this type of statewide coordination is necessary.

When the governor created the committee, he also asked each agency to designate someone to handle document requests, negating the need for a public information officer in each department, as proposed in LD 1881, another bill the Judiciary Committee will consider today. This information is available on the committee’s Web site. Lawmakers should first find out if there are problems with the current system. If there are, they should ask the committee to look for solutions, such as designating a current employee to oversee and coordinate state efforts.

LD 1881, sponsored by Senate minority leader Carol Weston, also establishes a timeline for responding to document requests. Current law says the documents must be made available in a “reasonable” amount of time. If documents are not produced within 10 days, a reason must be given, along with an expected date and time when they would be ready.

While a timeline may be helpful, it could actually delay some requests. There should also be differing standards depending on how much information is asked for. A request for a police report, for example, should be met immediately, while a request for 10,000 pages of documents would likely take longer than 10 days.

Such issues should be reviewed by the advisory committee, which could recommend timetable language to the next session of the Legislature.

With modifications, these bills will further improve Maine’s public access rules and practices.