Sunshine Week: Costs often prohibitive
The Mississippi Public Records Act says only that public bodies can charge no more than the “actual cost” to search, review or duplicate records.
Two state legislators tried this session to clarify what public bodies can charge for records, but both bills died in the Senate.
Open government advocates say Mississippi can do a better job of providing access to information, but citizens have to demand it.
Citizen democracy is gaining momentum across the country, writes Jeanni Atkins, executive director of the Mississippi Center for Freedom of Information.
There is a newfound reawakening and a sense of citizen empowerment at the grass-roots level to make collective voices heard in policy decisions and to demand government transparency and accountability.
RELATED:
- Mississippi so often comes in last among the states on measures of success that there’s little surprise - only resignation - when a new category is added.
- A bright spot: The Mississippi Department of Education’s voluminous Web site is chock full of data on student achievement, enrollment, district finances and demographics. In fact, one of the problems with the site is the amount of information.
- From Delta Democrat Times editor Dominick Cross: “Here it is, National Sunshine Week. And while it’s a good and necessary thing for which it stands, I find it perplexing that we even have to have a week set aside to remind people of their right to know.”
- From The Greenwood Commonwealth: Mississippi has a habit of being guarded about how much information it makes available to the public and how easily. Its public records and open meetings laws are littered with exemptions. If those in public office can’t hide behind one of those, they create new obstacles to disclosure, such as charging an exorbitant amount to produce the records, or drag their feet unnecessarily producing the documents.