LEGISLATIVE OPEN RECORDS ACT                                                                                                                       S.B. 232-241:

                                                                                                                                                                                                      SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                                                                                                                        REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

Senate Bills 232 through 241 (as reported without amendment)

Sponsor:   Senator Jeremy Moss (S.B. 232, 235, 237, & 240)

                            Senator Ed McBroom (S.B. 233, 234, 236, 238, 239, & 241)

Committee:   Oversight

CONTENT

Senate Bill 233 would rename the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) as the "Freedom of Information and Legislative Open Records Act", designate Sections 1 through 16 of the Act as Part 1 (Freedom of Information Act) and amend various references to FOIA to refer instead to Part 1. The bill also would amend the Act to do the following:

 --       Modify the definition of "public body".

 --       Specify that a provision allowing a person to subscribe to future issuances of public records that are created, issued, or disseminated on a regular basis would not apply to the executive office of the Governor or Lieutenant Governor.

Senate Bill 234 would add Part 2 (Legislative Open Records Act) to FOIA to do the following:

 --       Allow a person to inspect, copy, or receive copies of the records of a public body after providing the public body's Legislative Open Records Act (LORA) coordinator with a written request, except as otherwise provided.

 --       Require an employee of a public body who received a request for a public body to forward it to the LORA coordinator within three business days.

 --       Require a LORA coordinator to keep a copy of all written requests for public records on file for at least one year.

 --       Prohibit a public body from destroying or altering a public record before it had been in its possession for 730 days if it would become a public record after it had been in the public body's possession for 15 days.

Senate Bill 237 would add Section 24 to Part 2 of FOIA to do the following:

 --       Allow a public body to charge a fee for a public record search, for the necessary copying of a public record, or for providing a copy of a record.

 --       Prescribe the limitations of a fee, the maximum fee that could be charged, and the process for calculating a fee.

 --       Allow a public body to charge a fee deposit.

 --       Require a public body to establish procedures and guidelines to implement Part 2 and to create a written public summary of the specific procedures and guidelines relevant to the general public.

 --       Require a public body to make its procedures and guidelines publicly available.

 --       Require the procedures and guidelines to include a detailed itemization of any fee amount.

 --       Require a response to a request for public records to