Monday, January 31, 2005

~ use it, or lose it ~

Have you ever had a clerk at a public agency tell you that they could read you the information on their computer screen but they couldn't print it? I don't mean that the agency didn't have the capability of printing it but just decided that they couldn't, wouldn't, shouldn't. Let your fingers do the walking over to The Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press, Tapping Officials' Secrets, an online guide to using the open records laws in every state. This is a database of their interpretations of the laws backed up by case law and statutes.

Among the search results for "california public record" was this item:

"The fact that public records may be stored in a computer does not affect their status as public records. Cal. Gov't Code § 6254.9(d). "

This database helps you read and apply the law. Exercise your rights. You just might save a few of them.