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Missouri Sunshine Law

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The Missouri Sunshine Law is meant to give light to important government issues in the state.

Chapter 610 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, commonly known as the Missouri Sunshine Law, is the primary law regarding freedom of the public to access information from any public or quasi-public governmental body in the U.S. state of Missouri.[1]

History

It was signed into law in 1973 as response to the federal Freedom of Information Act[2] to ensure that the state government would also be open and accountable (as the Freedom of Information Act is not applicable to record requests submitted to the individual states). The statute has been continually changed, the last change was in the year 2017.[3]

Summary of the Actions of the Law

Recording of Actions

Unless there is specific law otherwise; all meetings, records, votes, and actions of governmental bodies shall be made openly available to the public.[4] When any governmental body votes the votes must be recorded, and where possible with attribution to which officials voted which way. Requires that all votes be cast through physical presence of the official voting or by live call in (via voice or electronic means). Requires that any change to the voting procedures of a body shall be noted in publicly available minutes.[5]

Notice and Accessibility of Meetings

Requires that public meetings be announced at least one work day before they are to happen, a notice must include time of meeting, date of meeting, place of meeting, the agenda the meeting (if it is open,and if the meeting is open or closed to the public.[6] Organizers of the meeting must provide legal ways for members of the public to record the meeting. Requires that record is kept of the happenings of each meeting.[7]

Exemptions from Public Freedom to Information

Outlines situations in which closed meetings may be held, such as meetings concerned about government purchases, the state militia, security software, one's Individually identifiable personal records especially if they are a minor. The state shall never reveal any person's Social Security number.[8][9] If it may reasonably endanger a person or hinder an investigation, personal criminal and law enforcement records should be made open.[10][11]

Closing of Meetings

No meeting may be closed without an affirmative public vote of the majority of a quorum of the public governmental body.[12]

Handling of Records

Each governmental body must keep its records under the handling of a custodian. Copies of records may be made but records should never be removed or destroyed.[13]

Handling of Emails

Any emails regarding public business sent by a member of a public governmental body must also be sent to the custodian of records to be kept.[14]

Copies of documents and access for the Public

Public governmental bodies must provide copies of public records to anyone who asks,[15] no reason for accessing needs to be provided.[1] If records are requested in a certain format, the custodian shall provide the records in the requested format, if such format is available.[13] If the requested records are not given in three days then the custodian must provide a reason.[13] A reasonable price may be charged for copying, the price for copying on sheets of paper shall not exceed 10 cents per sheet of paper.[15] If possible, public governmental bodies should put their records on a free and easy to access website.[16]

Failure of Public Governmental Bodies to Comply

Bodies that choose not to comply can be brought to court. An individual who purposefully violates the law may receive a fine of up to $5,000.[17] No employee of any governmental body may be fired for reporting what is believed to be a violation of the statute if they did so in good faith.[18] If possible, public governmental bodies should put their records on a free and easy to access website.[19]

Criticisms

Lack of Enforcement

In a 2014 interview with St. Louis Public Radio, Jean Maneke, a consulting attorney for the Missouri Press Association, has expressed that the law's biggest shortcoming is a de facto lack of enforcement, saying "even though the law does have enforcement provisions in it, but it is a very difficult law to enforce." In the same article, Chris McDonald (the author), explains how in another investigation he had to wait 60 day to receive documents from a Sunshine requests (20 times the delivery goal set in the statute).[20]

Requests to agencies of the state's government are even less likely to followed through on as the Missouri Attorney General's office is not likely to prosecute state agencies because they are their "clients." Complainants who have problems requesting from state agencies have been told to "contact a private attorney" instead of having the Attorney General pursue for them.[21]

Cost to Public

In a 2021 interview with The Joplin Globe, Jean Maneke, a consulting attorney for the Missouri Press Association called the cost of access "the No. 1 obstacle to the public" in accessing the files made public through the law, saying "when a requester cannot specifically identify what record is sought, it hinders fast location of that record, which drives up the 'search' portion of the cost."[22]

There have been attempts to raise the cost of access for getting and searching for documents through sunshine requests.[23]

Further Reading (External Links)

References

  1. ^ a b "Sunshine Law". Missouri Attorney General's Office. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Missouri FOIA Laws". National Freedom of Information Coalition. National Freedom of Information Coalition. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 610". Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  4. ^ "Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 610.011". Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 610.015". Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Sunshine Law: Missouri's Open Meetings and Records Law; Sections 610.010 to 610.028, RSMo" (PDF). University of Missouri Extension. University of Missouri.
  7. ^ "Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 610.020". Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 610.035". Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 610.021". Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 610.100". Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  11. ^ Scmitt, Eric. "Missouri Sunshine Law: Open Meetings and Records Law" (PDF). Missouri Attorney General's Office.
  12. ^ "Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 610.022". Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  13. ^ a b c "Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 610.023". Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  14. ^ "Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 610.025". Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 610.026". Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  16. ^ "Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 610.029". Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  17. ^ "Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 610.027". Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  18. ^ "Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 610.028". Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 610.029". Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  20. ^ McDonald, Chris (18 March 2014). "Let The Sunshine In: Missouri Law On Open Records Lacks Teeth, Critics Say". St. Louis Public Radio. St. Louis Public Radio. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  21. ^ Weinberg, Tessa. "Loophole means Attorney General rarely enforces Missouri Sunshine Law on state agencies". Missouri Independent. Missouri Independent. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  22. ^ Younker, Emily. "The 5 Q's: Jean Maneke explains Missouri's Sunshine Law". The Joplin Globe. The Joplin Globe. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  23. ^ Weinberg, Tessa. "Lawmakers debate changes to Missouri Sunshine Law that would conceal more records". Missouri Independent. Missouri Independent. Retrieved 29 September 2022.