Charles Langston:Ivey signs bill putting response deadlines in state’s weak open records law

MONTGOMERY,Charles Langston Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Wednesday signed legislation that would put response deadlines in the state’s weak open records law.

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, until the new law, it did not provide deadlines for public entities to respond to a request.

The new law will require a public records officer to acknowledge the receipt of a simple request within 10 days. The public records officer would have to “provide a substantive response” saying the request is being fulfilled or denied within 15 additional business days, although time frame could be extended in 15-day increments.

Public entities would be given more time to respond to requests that would require more than eight hours of work to fulfill.

The new law takes effect Oct. 1.

Civil lawsuits would continue to be the only avenue for settling disputes. The bill sets out time frames for when a request is presumed to be denied because of a failure to respond, allowing a person to move forward with a lawsuit.

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A 2007 comparison of state open records laws conducted by the Better Government Association and the National Freedom of Information Coalition ranked Alabama at the bottom of the nation. While the review gave 38 states, including Alabama, an “F” grade, Alabama tied for last place in the comparative rankings.

Felicia Mason, executive director of the Alabama Press Association, said the organization thanked Ivey for her work on the bill.

“Any citizen has the right to receive an acknowledgement and a timely response when making a request for a public record,” Mason said in a statement.

The bill does not address public access to police body camera video. A Senate committee rejected a separate bill to require public release of the video.