I've written before about how Utah has a superior system for appealing record denials. By one standard, Utah is ahead of its neighbors.

The National Freedom of Information Coalition published a position paper on how states can benefit by creating mediation to discuss disputes between citizens requesting records and the government agencies denying them. You can download the paper at the bottom of this post.

Utah, with its State Records Committee, is listed as a state with a mechanism for mediation or administrative appeals. It's one of the few Western states where you can fight a denial without an attorney. At least one person in Montana would like to hop aboard.

The executive director of the Montana Newspaper Association, John Barnes, suggested in a recent newsletter such an third party could prevent lawsuits and save money for taxpayers.

Despite the fact that the large majority of examples the public and media face in FOI violations require no judicial review…Montana’s open meeting and open record laws provides no other venue for relief except District Court.

And that means expense and delays so long (often a year or more) that any such value of obtaining the information has become moot.

— NC

hammitt_mediation_without_litigation.pdf

Labels: GRAMA, NFOIC