New Alabama law will require state agencies to respond to open records requests

Last week, Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation requiring state agencies to acknowledge and respond to public records requests within set time frames.

SB 270, sponsored by State Senator Arthur Orr, sets two standards for two types of requests based on time intensity and effort needed by the government agency. The law goes into effect on Oct. 1.

Rep. Cynthia Almond, R-Tuscaloosa, who handled the bill in the House, said in a phone interview Friday that this bill was “much needed” because of “an absence of specificity,” such as a timeline for responding to requests or a framework for agencies to deal with cumbersome requests. She said the bill “strikes a good balance” between those two interests.

“The public has a right to know and request public information, and at the same time, there needs to be some parameters and guidelines for the people who are tasked with responding. They need to respond promptly, but also, they get a lot of unreasonable or frivolous requests, and now they have a way of trying to handle that in an appropriate way,” Almond said.

While Alabama has long had open records laws, the law did not have deadlines for agencies to respond to open records requests, a provision that effectively allowed state agencies to ignore them. The only recourse to obtaining a record was to bring a lawsuit.

The legislation sets 10 days for acknowledgement for a standard or “time-intensive” request; provide for a “substantive response” of denial or fulfillment within 15 business days after acknowledgement, with possible extensions.

The agency may also notify that a request falls under a “time-intensive” request within 15 days of acknowledgment. If the requester proceeds with a “time-intensive” request, the agency has to respond with a denial or fulfillment within 45 business days, with possible extensions.

In an emailed statement, Ivey’s office said this was the most significant change to Alabama’s public records law in over 50 years.

“Transparency isn’t just a buzzword – it’s a commitment to letting the sunlight in and ensuring our citizens can hold their government accountable,” said  Ivey in the statement.

Ivey signed an executive order in early 2023 setting minimum requirements for public access to public records, which Ivey’s office said SB 270 “largely codifie[d]” into law. The order required state agencies to acknowledge requests within two days. It also requires agencies to make a formal response to requests within 15 days. The order also caps copying charges (always a potential wallet drainer) to 50 cents a page and makes it clear that there will be no fee for electronic documents.

A similar bill moved through both chambers last year, but the bill died on the last day of session.

J. Evans Bailey, a media law attorney in Montgomery who worked on the legislation with the Alabama Press Association, said that last year’s bill tried to follow Ivey’s executive order. The legislation wasn’t compatible with the executive order in some ways, such as having a distinction between time intensive and standard requests.

“When a whole branch of the government is operating under that framework through an executive order, it kind of makes it easier for other branches and for counties and municipalities and all various boards to see that it can work and feel comfortable with it,” Bailey said.

Felicia Mason, executive director of the Alabama Press Association, who worked on the bill with the Governor’s office, said in a phone interview Friday that the administration worked with the association “long before the session started” to make the bill compatible with the executive order. She said that local governments, such as counties and cities, were also involved in the discussions.

“In many cases [last year’s bill] didn’t work for other entities, small staff, small areas, counties and cities. So that just took some tweaking to get that in line so that it was fair to the public and to the custodians of the records. Everybody’s not the same in terms of the staff and how you know how easy it is for them to get records,” Mason said.

The law does not include an appeals process if a record is denied, and it does not cap fees that agencies may charge for producing public documents.

Bailey said that while the public records law is “definitely stronger than it was,” an area to look at for the future is to look at ways to make the process more equitable when it comes to disputes. The average Alabama citizen may not be able to afford court proceedings.

“Whether it’s an ombudsman or some sort of committee, other states handle it in ways that don’t necessarily involve every open records dispute winding up in litigation,” he said.

The story was republished under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 from the Alabama Reflector.