It’s Sunshine Week, and time to remind ourselves – and those we report on – just what that means. It is particularly important as we face one of the biggest stories of recent decades.
Here in New Mexico, accessing government documents often involves invoking the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA), which the attorney general lays out here:
The Inspection of Public Records Act is a New Mexico state law that provides the public and media access to public information. The law requires open access to almost all public records in state and local government, with few exceptions. Under IPRA, the public has the right to take legal action if they are denied access to public records, an important mechanism to empower the public.
From the New Mexico Attorney General’s website
A copy of the IPRA Compliance Guide is available here.
You can brush up on IPRA’s cousin, the Open Meetings Act (OMA), here. It’s the state law that provides the legal guidelines for conducting public meetings.
For Sunshine Week, board member Julia Dendinger (an assistant editor at the Valencia County News-Bulletin) has offered these guidelines for dealing with both IPRA and OMA:
When we make requests for public documents under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act, we might get caught up in getting a copy of the records. It’s important to remember the “I” in IPRA.
When a records custodian receives a written IPRA request, they “shall permit the INSPECTION immediately or as soon as is practicable under the circumstances.”
Some public bodies will drag their heels and send copies of records on the 15th day (From the IPRA law: “Inspection must be allowed no later than 15 calendar days after the custodian receives the request, unless, as discussed later in Chapter IX, the request has been determined to be excessively burdensome or broad.”).
In your request, remind them that inspection is permitted immediately or as soon as possible. Once you are inspecting the records, feel free to make your own copies with a camera, scanner, or smartphone app.
Sometimes a records custodian will tell a you your request is “excessively burdensome or broad.” This is not a denial of records (though some custodians will try to use it as one). What this actually means is the custodian is advising you – within 15 days of getting your request – that they will need additional time to gather the records. Remember: Just because it’s a lot of heavy lifting for them doesn’t mean you don’t get your records.
Public records from time to time can include information that shouldn’t be made public, like social security numbers. If that is the case, remember that doesn’t exempt the entire document or file from being public. A custodian can redact a document or remove the exempt information from the file before turning over the rest.
One more time: a copy of the IPRA Compliance Guide is available here.
While the New Mexico Open Meetings Act doesn’t require public bodies to allow public comment, many do. It’s important to be aware of a group’s public comment policy and procedures so that you, as a reporter, can help guide members of the public in their attempts to address their government. We should always be willing to help the public access their government and get answers.
Public bodies must include an agenda in their meeting notices or they must have information on where the agenda can be found. With two exceptions, a public body must make the agenda available to the public at least 72 hours before a meeting.
The 72-hour requirement applies regardless of whether it includes a Saturday, Sunday or holiday. For example, a public body holding a meeting at 9 a.m. on a Monday would meet the 72-hour requirement if it made the agenda available by 9 a.m. on Friday. A public body may close a meeting, with proper notice, but there are only 10 exemptions under the law that allow for closure. Be sure the body cites a specific reason for closure and that any action by the board resulting from a closed meeting is taken in public and recorded in the minutes.
Again, you can find a copy of the Open Meetings Act (OMA), here.
And here are some more links if you want to learn more about open records and freedom of the press:
