Legislature, Governor could revise Missouri's Sunshine Law - krcgtv.com
JEFFERSON CITY — For nearly half-a-century, Missouri’s Sunshine Law has allowed ordinary folks to keep an eye on public officials, from schools city councils to the State Capitol. But now, a report from the Missouri Independent says Governor Mike Parson's office wants to revise several aspects of that, and the role of watchdog could come with a hefty fee.
From the average Missourian to the Missouri Attorney General, requests for records under the Sunshine Law have allowed individuals to monitor the goings-on of government. Journalists request records under the Sunshine Law frequently, to help get a clearer picture on how public officials operate.
“The goal is government transparency," Sandra Davidson, a media lawyer and a University of Missouri law professor, said. “We have pretty good statutes in the state of Missouri.”
Somewhat ironically following an open records request, the Independent obtained a slide from a presentation from the Governor’s Office last November.
In it, they identified legislative priorities for “G57,” that is, Governor Parson, Missouri’s fifty-seventh governor.
The slide lists changes the governor allegedly advocates for in sunshine laws, including redefining terms like “governmental body” and “public record," plus, changing the charges of a sunshine request.
“Information that everybody should have access to and also at the lowest cost, because that’s part of what our records laws aims at: lowering cost," Davidson said.
Under the provisions of the sunshine law, these requests can come with fees, both for paper copies of the records, and for the time it took an individual to compile the records.
Among the Governor’s alleged proposals is one that the government does not turn over the records until the requestor has paid for them.
More controversially, Governor Parson is reportedly advocating for attorney review time to also be included in those sunshine fees.
“[Attorney review] means expense," Davidson said. Reading from the slide, she added "‘there’s two legal questions in every sunshine response.’ Does that mean anytime we get a Sunshine Request, you’re going to be calling up the attorney to say, okay is this responsive and is the record open?"
Notedly, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled last summer that attorney review does not count in charges for sunshine requests, but the Governor’s alleged priorities directly refute that.
And if legislators pass new revisions, Davidson says that Supreme Court ruling wouldn’t apply, noting that the Supreme Court ruling applies to the law as it stood in 2021.
“The Supreme Court can strike down laws if they’re unconstitutional, but I don’t see a constitutional question arising when it comes to charging attorney time," she said.
Now, Missouri Representative Bruce DeGroot (R-101) has proposed House Bill 2049, proposing those very priorities, including charging for attorney review.
Last year, Rep. DeGroot filed a similar bill that passed both the House and Senate but was ultimately vetoed by Governor Parson himself.
Citing his justification as, among other things, that Supreme Court ruling, Governor Parson said in his veto letter last summer that he would work with the general assembly on revising the sunshine law.
The Independent reports that that has already happened, quoting Representative DeGroot as saying, “I really liked the house version last year and then the governor came to me and obviously this was something important to him.”
Rep. DeGroot did not return KRCG 13's requests for comment.
Saying the Missouri Independent has "no credibility," a spokesperson from Governor Mike parson's office tells KRCG 13, "The Governor supports the public’s ability to access their government and the records maintained by their government. The Sunshine law was enacted in 1973 and when written, did not account for modern technology and how records are made and maintained in present times. It is important to improve efficiency and modernize our process while protecting public access. Process improvement and increased efficiency will actually improve transparency because individuals making records requests can receive their requests more quickly. Many of the updates in the legislative proposal mirror federal law. These improvements aren’t just about aiding state government; they’re about helping out our counties, towns, and smaller communities while saving the taxpayers from subsidizing an outdated system."
“Anytime the legislature could amend the Sunshine Law, and the Governor will sign off on it, and it becomes law," Davison said.
At publication, House Bill 2049 has only been read on the house floor. It has not yet been delegated to a committee for discussion.
source: https://krcgtv.com/news/local/legislature-governor-could-revise-missouris-sunshine-law
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