MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Senate on Thursday advanced legislation aimed at strengthening the state’s weak open records law by setting deadlines to respond to requests to view public documents.
Senators voted 29-0 for the legislation. The bill now moves to the House.
“Right now, under current law, it’s the wild west. We don’t have timelines for governments or universities to respond in due time,” Republican Sen. Arthur Orr, the bill’s sponsor, said.
Alabama’s public records law says any citizen has the right to inspect and take copies of public writings, except for those exempted by law. However, it does not provide deadlines for responses.
The legislation would require a public records officer to acknowledge the receipt of a simple request within 10 days and then “provide a substantive response” to the request within 15 additional business days. Public entities would be given more time to respond to requests that would require more than eight hours of work to fulfill.
Kansas adds AJ Storr after he led Wisconsin in scoring this season
Voting technology company settles lawsuit against far
Senate opposition leaves South Carolina energy bill with listless future
America's electric vehicle push happened 'too soon and too fast,' warn ex
Defending champion Lilia Vu withdraws from Chevron Championship with back injury before 1st round
Voting technology company settles lawsuit against far
China axes hundreds of TV dramas depicting family tensions — Radio Free Asia
Sydney Sweeney and Zendaya both wowed in Euphoria, so why are they treated so differently?
There IS a link between women's periods and the moon after all, study finds