Every state in the nation has what are called “sunshine laws.” These are basically state versions of the Freedom of Information Act. It means that they can’t hide a bunch of stuff from the public.
They vary in many ways and some lack teeth for failing to adhere to the law, but they’re on the books.
Usually, there are some exceptions to the information available, such as personally identifying information like social security numbers, as well as a few other things. There are also stipulations where people requesting information can be charged a reasonable amount for the production of copies of information.
That’s pretty reasonable, really.
Or it is so long as they don’t try to use it to keep people from seeing what they’re doing, which it seems one government organization recently tried.
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