Press-association representatives, civic advocates and a Jackson resident urged the committee to examine Wyoming public-records and open-meeting statutes and the fees charged for records requests.

Sandy Ress of Jackson told the committee that Wyoming’s public-meeting and public-records statutes “have bones but no meat” and recommended studying other states’ statutes — he specifically recommended Texas’ statute as a model. Ress asked the committee to consider adding clearer procedural requirements to Wyoming law so that local governments could not rely on ambiguous statutes.

Randy McKay, president of the Wyoming Business Alliance, also urged attention to housing and workforce issues but noted the business community’s interest in clear public-records fee schedules that do not permit “outrageous charges.” Another online witness provided a multi-state comparison of record-fee approaches for the committee to review.

Ending: The committee said public-records fees and statute clarity would be considered among interim topics to be ranked.