Alabama lawmakers advance bill to strengthen state's weak open records law
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Senate on Thursday advanced legislation aimed at strengthening the state’s weak open records law by setting deadlines to respond to requests to view public documents.
Senators voted 29-0 for the legislation. The bill now moves to the House.
“Right now, under current law, it’s the wild west. We don’t have timelines for governments or universities to respond in due time,” Republican Sen. Arthur Orr, the bill’s sponsor, said.
Alabama’s public records law says any citizen has the right to inspect and take copies of public writings, except for those exempted by law. However, it does not provide deadlines for responses.
The legislation would require a public records officer to acknowledge the receipt of a simple request within 10 days and then “provide a substantive response” to the request within 15 additional business days. Public entities would be given more time to respond to requests that would require more than eight hours of work to fulfill.
Related articles
Over 1 million claims related to toxic exposure granted under new veterans law, Biden announces
NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — President Joe Biden, aiming to highlight his legislative accomplishments this el2024-05-22Teen cancer survivor reveals she had no idea how ill she was until radiographer CRIED during scan
A teenage cancer survivor inadvertently learnt of her devastating diagnosis by a radiographer who cr2024-05-22Revealed: The countries with the highest levels of cybercrime in the world
Russia has been named as the world's cybercrime hotspot in a new study ranking the most significant2024-05-22I ate cricket meat mince and it was delicious
In the UK, eating insects might seem something only horrified showbiz personas on I'm A Celebrity...2024-05-22Bridgerton fans SLAM season three's historical beauty inaccuracies
The much-anticipated third season of Bridgerton premiered on May 16 and quickly became one of Netfli2024-05-22More than 200 US chemical plants must reduce toxic emissions under new EPA rule
More than 200 chemical plants in the US will be required to cut emissions of toxic chemicals that ha2024-05-22
atest comment