Attorney General John Kroger has added time limits for responses to public records requests and imposed a public interest requirement for fee waivers in the newly published, January 2011, edition of the Attorney General’s Public Records and Meetings Manual. In a press release, Kroger said, “Changes to the manual reflect new legislation, recent court decisions [...]

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A bill that would impose time limits for public bodies to respond to public records requests and limiting fees they may charge for the records has been introduced into the 2011 Legislature at the request of Attorney General John Kroger. Senate Bill 41 would require a public body to respond to a record request and [...]

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Economic development programs need transparency Oregon spends about $350 million per biennium on programs designed to promote economic development, mostly by providing tax breaks to companies that create new jobs. Oregonians need a clear picture of what they’re getting from these programs, both because of their big price tag and because it’s essential that the [...]

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An advisory board established by the Legislature to help citizens access state government information has held its first meeting Wednesday, Nov. 17. The Oregon Electronic Government Portal Advisory Board was established to advise the Department of Administrative Services on key decisions and strategic choices about how DAS manages and operates the state’s www.oregon.gov portal, the [...]

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After six months of town hall meetings around Oregon and receiving written comments, Attorney General John Kroger has issued his Government Transparency Report that summarizes the frustrations many Oregonians have with the state’s public records and meetings laws. The report, which also includes studies of other state laws, concludes that the 2011 Legislature should “address [...]

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The Oregon Court of Appeals has ruled that concealed weapons permits are public records, affirming a Jackson County Circuit Court ruling in a case brought by the Medford Mail Tribune. See the ruling here: Appeals Court On Weapons Permits (pdf file)

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SALEM — The Oregon attorney general says it will cost $80,000 to review 21,500 e-mails sought by Republican lawmakers over the resignation of Brent Foster, the former special counsel for the environment. Attorney General John Kroger made the estimate in a letter today to Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli. Republican lawmakers want to know more [...]

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News Media Corporation After publicly denying the existence of a completed evaluation form for the Newport city attorney and city manager, Mayor Bill Bain admitted this week that he destroyed the document in early January. It’s an admission that could have implications in a pending lawsuit by Dennis Reno, the city’s former airport director who was fired last October.

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Thanks to grants from the National Freedom of Information Coalition, Open Oregon has published a quick reference guide to Oregon’s Public Records law, and has revised a republished the quick reference guide to Oregon’s Public Meetings Law. The funding for these guides came through a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. [...]

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