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Thursday, April 02, 2009
Ind. Gov't. - "Open records law needs changes"
That is the heading to this editorial today in the Gary Post-Tribune. It begins:
Indiana citizens have no legal right to know with whom state employees meet.The state public access counselor issued an informal opinion to the Post-Tribune last week, reaffirming that state law.
The newspaper had sought the meeting schedules of employees of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
To put the decision more bluntly: Even though taxpayers pay the salaries of these employees and pay for the buildings they work in, the citizens have no legal right to know what they do during the day, including meetings with other public citizens -- and industries.
Unfortunately, the counselor's hands are tied by Indiana's archaic laws, under which meeting schedules -- even those in Outlook software accessible by dozens of other employees -- are akin to a diary or calendar. Those are protected because state employees might jot down some personal notes.
These laws stem from a time when state employees might keep a daily record on their desks, written with a feather dipped in an ink pot.
Those times have passed, but the law hasn't changed.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 2, 2009 12:49 PM
Posted to Environment | Indiana Government | Indiana Law