Gov. signs public records bill into law

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Gov. Lincoln Chafee on Tuesday signed a reworked public records bill into law that unseals government employment contracts and creates a so-called "balancing test" for disclosures modeled after federal statute.

The new law is the first significant change to the state's Access to Public Records Act (APRA) in 14 years and Chafee said he hopes it will make government more transparent in Rhode Island.

"It's a good bill, passed almost unanimously," Chafee said moments after signing it. "We're always criticized for being inaccessible and we struggle with some of our ethical issues in this state, so it’s always good to [let] sunshine in."

The law – which goes into effect Sept. 1 – also requires certain details of an arrest to be released within 48 hours on weekdays or 72 hours on weekends. The information would be presented as an arrest "log" and include the name of the person charged, the alleged crime and where and when it took place. Massachusetts uses a similar process.

The most significant change is the addition of the balancing test, which is designed to counter a broad exemption in the old law that keeps sealed all records that are "personally identifiable" to an individual.

John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, said the balancing test means records with someone's name on it now have a shot at seeing the light of day.

"Now the public body, whoever is in charge of those records, has to make a decision: is it an invasion of privacy to give that out or not?" Marion said. "So we're going to get more than we were going to get before."

Chafee signed the bill despite expressing concern earlier in the legislative session about whether the balancing test could lead to more litigation for government agencies.

Other changes to the law include: allowing members of the public to remain anonymous when requesting a record; requiring agencies to designate a public records officer; and allowing members of the public to request the information in a preferred format as long as it’s not burdensome. In other words, the requestor can ask that the information be sent to them in an email rather than have volumes of paper mailed to them.

"That should save money and resources," Marion said. "It encourages public bodies to get into the 21st century. Emailing a file is a lot cheaper than mailing a bundle of paperwork."

The bill was sponsored by state Rep. Michael Marcello, D-Scituate, and state Sen. James Sheehan, D-North Kingstown. Good government groups such as Common Cause, The New England First Amendment Coalition, the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Rhode Island Press Association all supported the bill.

"I'm thrilled that the governor has signed the bill and greatly expanded the potential number of records that are available for public inspection," Marcello said. He said the new statute "advanced open government in Rhode Island by generations."

Attorney General Peter Kilmartin – who submitted the Senate version of the bill – is holding an open government summit next month to help get government agencies up to speed on the changes.

"All Rhode Islanders share the common goal that government be open and accessible to the public," Kilmartin said in a statement. "The reforms to APRA achieve this goal and usher in a new era of transparency and accountability for government in Rhode Island."

Organizations pushing for changes to the law didn't get everything they were looking for in the end, Marion said.
One of the proposed bills had language that would have shortened the amount of time agencies get to respond to a request from 10 business days to seven. State officials expressed concern that the reduced time frame would require them to bring on more staff at a time when budgets are tight.

Marion said lawmakers also removed language that would have made public correspondence among elected officials, such as emails. Marion said the proposal was "politically sensitive" and probably would have prevented the bill from getting through the General Assembly.

"All [emails] shouldn't be public," Marion said, noting that emails to constituents and official correspondence during of negotiations would not have been subject to disclosure. "But if you are making decisions over email or in a letter on behalf of the public, the public has a right to now how those decisions are being made."

Tim White ( twhite@wpri.com ) is the Target 12 investigative reporter for WPRI 12 and Fox Providence. He is a board member of the New England First Amendment Coalition and testified in support of an earlier version of the bill. Follow him on Twitter: @white_tim