Associated Press FOI Audit

Associated Press, Oregon

in conjunction with Sunshine Week, March 13-19, 2005
Official ASNE Sunshine Week web site

The AP Oregon Freedom of Information Audit

The Associated Press Newspaper Executives organization in Oregon and the Oregon Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) have prepared a package of downloadable stories that examine whether government agencies and offices across the state are abiding by the provisions of Oregon's Open Records Law.
The stories are based on an audit conducted across the state on Jan. 19. Auditors, all volunteers, went to police departments, school superintendents' offices, county sheriff's departments and city halls in all 36 counties seeking documents that are supposed to be available to the public under Oregon law.

The results of the audit's findings are contained in stories (downloadable below) written by staff reporters with The Associated Press and reporters from Oregon newspapers. The AP stories are for use on Sunday, March 13 and thereafter. We have chosen March 13 as the publication date because it is the start of national Sunshine Week.
The results of the audit are viewable below. The AP would like to acknowledge the cooperative efforts of the Society for Professional Journalism; members of the Associated Press Newspaper Executives; Ryan Frank, a reporter for The Oregonian and president of the Oregon chapter of SPJ; and Terrence Petty of the AP Portland Bureau in preparing this information.

Downloadable articles about the Freedom of Information Audit

Provided below are links to downloadable Associated Press articles, each described with a headline and lead above the download links.

Articles may be downloaded or, in the case of Adobe PDF, viewed, in any of four popular formats: Microsoft Word, Rich Text Format (RTF), Plain Text, or Adobe PDF. For each article, choose the format you prefer.

Public records less public than law allows, audit shows
There is absolutely no doubt that a concealed handgun permit application is a public record, if you ask Wasco County District Attorney Eric Nisley. But if you head up the road a ways east to Wallowa County and ask the sheriff's Chief Civil Deputy Ava Skillings, she'll tell you flat out, "No."
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Lawmakers chip away at Oregon's public records law
Passed at the height of the Watergate scandal, Oregon's 1973 public records law was designed to rebuild people's confidence in government by allowing unfettered public access to government documents. But in the past 30 years, Oregon legislators have chipped away at the law by approving more than 300 individual exemptions that put records out of the reach of the public.
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Many clerks, officials were suspicious about public records requests
Citizens who sought public records as part of a statewide audit encountered a great deal of suspicion among clerks, sheriffs and other government officials. Canyon City School Superintendent Newell G. Cleaver followed one auditor out of the building, then called the police and district attorney when he left.
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Public records audit: why and how it was carried out
Why send volunteers into local government offices across Oregon to seek access to public documents? To test whether those offices are prepared to abide by Oregon's Public Records Law. The audit, called Project Open Oregon, was organized by the Associated Press Newspaper Executives organization and by the Oregon chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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Baker County residents use public records against local corruption
The citizens of Union and Baker counties used Oregon's Public Records Law to investigate misuse of public funds by school officials, leading to the dismissal of some employees and the start of federal and state criminal investigations.
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Public records resources for citizens
Here is a brief list of publicly available resources on Oregon's Public Records Law.
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To read local newspaper editorials and news stories on the FOI Audit, click on
Local Reaction

Results of the Freedom of Information Audit

NOTE: Records tabulated in the "Other" column weren't obtained for a variety of reasons, including: confusion between the auditor and clerk about the request, unavailability of a supervisor, the request required a large fee, or technical difficulties. In addition, government officials can require a written request, and in many such cases, the auditor didn't pursue the issue in writing.

1. Results by record type

RECORD	ACCESS GRANTED	ACCESS DENIED	WRITTEN REQUEST REQUIRED	OTHER	TOTAL
Budget	35	0	0	1	36
City Manager's Expense Report	14	0	1	21	36
Concealed Handgun Permit	8	15	6	7	36
Record of Arrest	15	11	1	8	35
School Superintendent's Contract	27	2	3	3	35
Total	99	28	11	40	178

2. Results by county

COUNTY	ACCESS GRANTED	ACCESS DENIED	WRITTEN REQUEST REQUIRED	OTHER	TOTAL
Baker	2	1	0	2	5
Benton	2	2	0	1	5
Clackamas	4	1	0	0	5
Clatsop	3	0	1	1	5
Columbia	2	1	0	2	5
Coos	2	1	0	2	5
Crook	2	1	1	1	5
Curry	2	2	0	1	5
Deschutes	2	0	0	3	5
Douglas	3	0	1	1	5
Gilliam	3	1	0	1	5
Grant	2	0	0	3	5
Harney	3	1	0	1	5
Hood River	3	1	0	1	5
Jackson	4	0	0	1	5
Jefferson	4	0	1	0	5
Josephine	3	1	1	0	5
Klamath	1	2	0	2	5
Lake	4	0	0	1	5
Lane	2	0	1	2	5
Lincoln	4	0	0	1	5
Linn	1	2	0	2	5
Malheur	4	1	0	0	5
Marion	3	1	1	0	5
Morrow	1	2	0	1	4
Multnomah	3	0	0	2	5
Polk	2	1	1	1	5
Sherman	5	0	0	0	5
Tillamook	3	1	1	0	5
Umatilla	1	1	1	2	5
Union	5	0	0	0	5
Wallowa	2	2	0	1	5
Wasco	4	0	0	1	5
Washington	2	0	1	2	5
Wheeler	2	1	0	1	4
Yamhill	4	1	0	0	5
Total	99	28	11	40	178
% Total	56%	16%	6%	22%	100%

3. Results by record and county

COUNTY	RECORD	ACCESS GRANTED	ACCESS DENIED	WRITTEN REQUEST REQUIRED	OTHER
Baker	Budget	X
Baker	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Baker	Concealed Handgun Permit		X
Baker	Record of Arrest				X
Baker	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Benton	Budget	X
Benton	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Benton	Concealed Handgun Permit		X
Benton	Record of Arrest		X
Benton	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Clackamas	Budget	X
Clackamas	City Manager's Expense Report	X
Clackamas	Concealed Handgun Permit		X
Clackamas	Record of Arrest	X
Clackamas	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Clatsop	Budget	X
Clatsop	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Clatsop	Concealed Handgun Permit			X
Clatsop	Record of Arrest	X
Clatsop	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Columbia	Budget	X
Columbia	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Columbia	Concealed Handgun Permit				X
Columbia	Record of Arrest		X
Columbia	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Coos	Budget	X
Coos	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Coos	Concealed Handgun Permit		X
Coos	Record of Arrest				X
Coos	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Crook	Budget	X
Crook	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Crook	Concealed Handgun Permit			X
Crook	Record of Arrest		X
Crook	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Curry	Budget	X
Curry	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Curry	Concealed Handgun Permit		X
Curry	Record of Arrest		X
Curry	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Deschutes	Budget	X
Deschutes	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Deschutes	Concealed Handgun Permit				X
Deschutes	Record of Arrest	X
Deschutes	School Superintendent's Contract				X
Douglas	Budget	X
Douglas	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Douglas	Concealed Handgun Permit			X
Douglas	Record of Arrest	X
Douglas	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Gilliam	Budget	X
Gilliam	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Gilliam	Concealed Handgun Permit		X
Gilliam	Record of Arrest	X
Gilliam	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Grant	Budget				X
Grant	City Manager's Expense Report	X
Grant	Concealed Handgun Permit				X
Grant	Record of Arrest				X
Grant	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Harney	Budget	X
Harney	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Harney	Concealed Handgun Permit	X
Harney	Record of Arrest		X
Harney	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Hood River	Budget	X
Hood River	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Hood River	Concealed Handgun Permit		X
Hood River	Record of Arrest	X
Hood River	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Jackson	Budget	X
Jackson	City Manager's Expense Report	X
Jackson	Concealed Handgun Permit				X
Jackson	Record of Arrest	X
Jackson	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Jefferson	Budget	X
Jefferson	City Manager's Expense Report	X
Jefferson	Concealed Handgun Permit	X
Jefferson	Record of Arrest			X
Jefferson	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Josephine	Budget	X
Josephine	City Manager's Expense Report	X
Josephine	Concealed Handgun Permit	X
Josephine	Record of Arrest		X
Josephine	School Superintendent's Contract			X
Klamath	Budget	X
Klamath	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Klamath	Concealed Handgun Permit		X
Klamath	Record of Arrest		X
Klamath	School Superintendent's Contract				X
Lake	Budget	X
Lake	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Lake	Concealed Handgun Permit	X
Lake	Record of Arrest	X
Lake	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Lane	Budget	X
Lane	City Manager's Expense Report			X
Lane	Concealed Handgun Permit				X
Lane	Record of Arrest				X
Lane	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Lincoln	Budget	X
Lincoln	City Manager's Expense Report	X
Lincoln	Concealed Handgun Permit				X
Lincoln	Record of Arrest	X
Lincoln	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Linn	Budget	X
Linn	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Linn	Concealed Handgun Permit		X
Linn	Record of Arrest				X
Linn	School Superintendent's Contract		X
Malheur	Budget	X
Malheur	City Manager's Expense Report	X
Malheur	Concealed Handgun Permit		X
Malheur	Record of Arrest	X
Malheur	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Marion	Budget	X
Marion	City Manager's Expense Report	X
Marion	Concealed Handgun Permit	X
Marion	Record of Arrest		X
Marion	School Superintendent's Contract			X
Morrow	Budget	X
Morrow	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Morrow	Concealed Handgun Permit		X
Morrow	Record of Arrest		X
Multnomah	Budget	X
Multnomah	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Multnomah	Concealed Handgun Permit	X
Multnomah	Record of Arrest				X
Multnomah	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Polk	Budget	X
Polk	City Manager's Expense Report	X
Polk	Concealed Handgun Permit		X
Polk	Record of Arrest				X
Polk	School Superintendent's Contract			X
Sherman	Budget	X
Sherman	City Manager's Expense Report	X
Sherman	Concealed Handgun Permit	X
Sherman	Record of Arrest	X
Sherman	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Tillamook	Budget	X
Tillamook	City Manager's Expense Report	X
Tillamook	Concealed Handgun Permit			X
Tillamook	Record of Arrest		X
Tillamook	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Umatilla	Budget	X
Umatilla	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Umatilla	Concealed Handgun Permit			X
Umatilla	Record of Arrest		X
Umatilla	School Superintendent's Contract				X
Union	Budget	X
Union	City Manager's Expense Report	X
Union	Concealed Handgun Permit	X
Union	Record of Arrest	X
Union	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Wallowa	Budget	X
Wallowa	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Wallowa	Concealed Handgun Permit		X
Wallowa	Record of Arrest	X
Wallowa	School Superintendent's Contract		X
Wasco	Budget	X
Wasco	City Manager's Expense Report	X
Wasco	Concealed Handgun Permit				X
Wasco	Record of Arrest	X
Wasco	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Washington	Budget	X
Washington	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Washington	Concealed Handgun Permit			X
Washington	Record of Arrest				X
Washington	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Wheeler	Budget	X
Wheeler	City Manager's Expense Report				X
Wheeler	Concealed Handgun Permit		X
Wheeler	School Superintendent's Contract	X
Yamhill	Budget	X
Yamhill	City Manager's Expense Report	X
Yamhill	Concealed Handgun Permit		X
Yamhill	Record of Arrest	X
Yamhill	School Superintendent's Contract	X
	Total	99	28	11	40
	% Total	56%	16%	6%	22%
	Grand Total	178