Arizona State Sen. Dean Martin (R-Phoenix) introduced two bills on Feb. 1 that would make it easier for Arizonans to access state-held information. The first bill, S.B. 1499, would create a state funded ’public access counselor’ to provide expert advice to citizens and state officials regarding requests for state-held information. The second bill, S.B. 1498, would make it illegal for state agencies to sue a person or group simply because they requested information. Too often, state officials inappropriately withhold requested information because it may be damaging, or simply because the state official believes the requestor does not have a legitimate right to the information. When an agency does not provide sufficient access, the requestor’s only recourse is to take the matter to court. Of course, legal battles are costly and time consuming. S.B. 1499, reference titled simply “Office of Public Access Counselor,” would provide frustrated requestors with an alternative to the expensive proposition of court. The public access counselor position would not have the authority of law to order an agency to release information. However, the judgment of a state expert, which would be admissible in court, could significantly influence an agency to reconsider a request. State officials could also make use of the position by consulting with the public access counselor about a confusing or troubling request. A similar concept was recently proposed for the federal government by Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in the OPEN Government Act of 2005. In addition, last December, the Illinois Attorney General appointed a public access counselor to promote compliance with state public-records and open-meetings laws. Steve Brittle, director of Don’t Waste Arizona, thinks a public access counselor might have helped in his recent struggle seeking a state record. In 1993, Brittle and his organization helped citizens in Cottonwood, AZ, defeat Phoenix Cement’s bid to burn tires to fuel their plant. In September of 2004, Steve petitioned the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality for those records to help a Minnesota community facing a similar struggle. Unfortunately, the Arizona DEQ did not provide Brittle with the records until he had consulted with lawyers and threatened to sue. In the meantime, the Minnesota facility had already been granted a permit to burn tires. A public access counselor might have prevented the delay and enabled Brittle to obtain the records in a timelier manner. Arizona currently has no laws prohibiting a state agency from preemptively filing a lawsuit against a requestor. If a dispute arises over a denied request or information withheld, an agency might seek to settle the matter definitively by seeking a declaratory judgment or decree against a requestor from a court. However, this unfairly forces the requestor to incur legal fees for simply exercising the right to request information. ">S.B. 1498, reference titled “Public Records; Requestors; Lawsuits Prohibited,” would prohibit state agencies from commencing civil actions over requests for public records unless the requestor consents to the civil action. Both bills were introduced with several co-sponsors and are expected to go through committees and onto the Arizona senate floor within several weeks.

• More on S.B. 1499
• More on S.B. 1498
• Related article