I had an interesting weekend. See I was so busy last week running from different events, doctor’s appointments, hair appointments and special meetings that I didn’t even have a chance to sit down and start the paper. By that I mean I do all the layout and design work for every page every week for the Tate Record.
As you can probably imagine it can be time consuming, so to make deadline, I came into the empty office Saturday and worked. Sometimes this can be a favorite time to work because it is just me in a silent office without distractions.
Well, boy-oh-boy, did I get a distraction in the form of a private Facebook message. Turns out our folks at the county level haven’t been playing nice when it comes to public records requests. Apparently, a few requests have gone unacknowledged. Which is a huge “no-no”.
Now see, last week was Sunshine Week, a week to gently remind all of us of the beauty of transparency in government. Without transparency corruption grows. That is a promise. If leaders are not held accountable for their actions, the whole system will crumble.
I know what you’re thinking, “Steph, not everyone is corrupt.”
True. But there are good people out there who can make mistakes. I consider myself a good person, or at least I try to be. And I promise you I’ve made plenty of mistakes. Of course, I try to learn from them and move on, but the point is mistakes can still be made even by good God-fearing people. (Anyone remember Peter?)
Now, I have a major problem with a county government, especially my county government not playing fairly with all its people. If a citizen submits a Freedom of Information Act request, it is the duty of that body of government to honor the rules we all abide by. It doesn’t matter if the request comes from President Donald Trump or Charles Manson, we have rules to ensure all Americans can have access to their governing body.
It's literally what separates us from the rest of the world. It’s why everyone is trying so desperately to get here, even illegally.
So if we sit back and allow our governments to pick and choose who receives access to files, then we are walking a dangerous path. That is why letting the sunshine in can be so healthy for all of us.
Transparency is an issue that is close to my heart both as a citizen and as a newspaper publisher. It is something I will fight for. It is a hill I’m standing on…proudly.
Ignoring FIOA requests is not only illegal but basically just stupid. Mississippi Ethic Commission handles situations like this and rest assured sanctions will come unless the proper guidelines are followed.
Now there are laws out there protecting sensitive information and are not public records. Whenever I’ve submitted a request and information was redacted it was almost 100% of the time on arrest reports with the social security numbers removed. Also, anything to do with minors will be redacted.
There are also ways for the government to prolong releasing information. They can hold the request for seven days before even acknowledging they received the FOIA. They can then wait an additional seven days before either supplying the request or denying the request. They must however, present the statute explaining why the request was denied.
Another way the government can control releasing information is by charging fees. They can charge the cost of the paper (or whatever supplies it takes to reproduce the information) and they can charge the salary of the lowest paid person available to make the request. For example, if someone requests body camera footage from the police department, the department can charge the salary of the lieutenant because he is the one who has to review the footage and make duplicates.
I have seen different governing bodies who have become very skilled at manipulating situations to avoid releasing information. Here’s the deal though, they can. The rules are out there and there are ways around them that are still legal.
It doesn’t sound like our county officials have quite figured out how to work the system legally. Sounds like they are just bound and determined to ignore requests. That doesn’t sit right with me.
Look we already know we have people in office at the county level whose moral and ethical compass doesn’t exactly point north. So with that being said, you’d think they would work harder at not being so blatant about breaking the law.
