Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Records topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Chair urges review of nondisclosure practices and public‑records access
Summary
Chairman Charles Coffey told the board the county has not consistently followed public-records law and nondisclosure exceptions are being misused; he asked commissioners and staff to correct practice and follow the law while noting legitimate exemptions such as law-enforcement materials.
During the March 25 work session Chairman Charles Coffey raised concerns about county public‑records practices, urging a review of nondisclosure uses and greater transparency. Coffey said some items that should be publicly available on Q‑Public have been withheld and called for the county to follow public‑records law and established standards.
"This standard has not been held with the Commission specifically and we need to change that," Coffey said, noting there are legitimate exceptions for records such as law‑enforcement materials but that routine public information should not be improperly withheld. He used his own property filings as an example to emphasize that commissioners and staff should not treat standard disclosures as private when they are public records.
The chair said he had distributed guidance for commissioners to review and suggested the county attorney and staff provide clarifying guidance or a procedure if the board wishes to formalize a policy. No formal policy change was adopted at the work session; the discussion was presented as an item for commissioners to consider and to correct current practices.
