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Stakeholders press committee to revisit public-records law, target electronic fees and attorney-fee recovery
Summary
Advocates and press representatives urged lawmakers to revise Wyoming's public records law to eliminate charges for electronic records, clarify attorney-fee recovery for requesters who sue, and adopt clearer timelines for prompt production.
Multiple stakeholders urged the Joint & Standing committee to renew interim work on Wyoming’s public records and meetings laws, focusing on fees for electronic records and on legal remedies for requesters.
"As long as that's being produced in an electronic form, there shouldn't be a charge for that," Parker Jackson, a staff attorney with the Goldwater Institute, told the committee, arguing that fees for electronic production create an unnecessary barrier to public access. Jackson also urged the committee to spell out recoverable attorney’s fees for requesters who must go to court to obtain records and suggested looking to other states for approaches that limit burdensome out-of-state commercial requests.
Representatives of the press association and municipal governments told the committee that they had reached substantial agreement in principle during prior interim work and that a narrowly scoped bill addressing fees and timelines could be feasible. The press association recommended a mid-interim update if the committee decides to limit its time commitments this year.
What happens next: Committee members were asked to prioritize the topic among other interim proposals and to consider asking stakeholders to produce a draft bill for early review.
