Sunshine Coalition awarded Grant

The Missouri Sunshine Coalition has received a $7,500 grant from the
National Freedom of Information Coalition, coalition President Jim
Robertson said today (July 15, 2010).

With the funding, the coalition plans to develop programs that support transparency in Missouri government functions. MSC will also use the money for community meetings around the state to build membership and to raise awareness of the organization's mission, Robertson said.

Response to Sunshine Audit

Hot off the presses of the Missouri State Auditor's office is a report regarding sunshine violations among public bodies between January 2008 and December, 2009, which details numerous violations by bodies of both open and closed meeting requirements and shortcomings in access to public records. It comes as no surprise to us that she concludes that improvements are needed in all areas - both meetings and records - involving public bodies.

In the summary of her findings, Susan Montee, the state auditor, cited numerous examples of sunshine law violations in 59 audits conducted during that period by her office on public bodies ranging from the state's Governor, to St. Louis proper, the Missouri Housing Development Commission, the Village of Iatan and the Sugar Creek Special Road District. (It is clear that not every audit undertaken by the Office of the State Auditor resulted in a finding of a sunshine law violation, which I suppose is one factor which should bring joy to all sunshine law supporters across the state.)

She listed numerous conclusions of violations, and in each case cited the public body or bodies that had violated the law. The largest number of violations were for meeting minutes not including sufficient detail of matters discussed and votes taken, for which she found 32 entities with violations. Her conclusion was that minutes should always "include the information necessary to provide a complete record of all significant matters discussed and actions taken."

Another large area of violations, which comes as no surprise, is that 28 of the governmental units audited failed to adequately document the reasons for closing meetings and votes in the open meeting minutes.

Two categories of violations tie for the next largest group of infractions. One was that meeting minutes were not signed by the preparer or adequately approved by a member of the governing body. Montee found 26 public bodies' minutes had this problem and her recommendation was that all minutes be signed by the preparer and a member to document their approval and attest to the completeness and accuracy of the minutes. The other was that minutes were not maintained for closed meetings in 26 cases, a defect that is clearly a violation of state law which mandates minutes be kept of closed meetings.

Other shortcomings included failure to maintain up-to-date minutes for open meetings (14), evidence of business being conducted outside of regular open meetings (4), bodies meeting at a time which was inconvenient for the public to attend (1), lack of detail in closed meeting minutes regarding discussions and votes taken (8), minutes not signed by the preparer or approved by the body (2), illegible minutes (2), failure to document in closed meeting minutes that issues discussed in those meetings were permissible under the exemptions in the sunshine law (18), discussion of subjects not within the exception for discussion during the closed meeting (3), failure to document in open meeting minutes the final disposition of matters discussed in closed meetings (11), a lack of formal policies and procedures regarding public access to records (20), lack of an email retention policy (4), lack of records documenting requests for access to records and the response given by the body to those requests (2), failure to properly document whether a record was "open" or "closed" under the sunshine law (1), lack of a tentative agenda and notice for public meetings (11), and failure of notices of closed meetings to properly identify the actual subject to be discussed at the upcoming meeting (4).

Sunshine Audit Released!

Findings in the Summary of State and Local Audit Findings- Sunshine Law
The Missouri State Auditor's office is responsible for audits of state agencies, boards, and commissions; counties that have not elected a county auditor; all divisions of the circuit court system; and other political subdivisions, such as municipalities, upon petition by the voters of those subdivisions or request of the governor.

This report summarizing a variety of audit issues and recommendations regarding the Sunshine Law, Chapter 610, RSMo, and other issues related to meeting minutes, was compiled using audit reports issued between January 2008 and December 2009. These issues were addressed in 59 audit reports.

Open Meetings
Concerns regarding open meeting minutes and documentation for closing meetings were noted in 47 governmental entities. Business appeared to be conducted outside of regular open meetings in 4 governmental entities.

Closed Meetings
Concerns regarding closed meeting minutes were noted in 30 governmental entities. The governing body did not document how some issues discussed in closed meetings were allowable under the state law in 18 governmental entities and the governing body discussed issues other than the specific reasons cited for going into a closed meeting in 3 governmental entities.

Public Records
Policies and procedures regarding public access to records need improvement in 24 governmental entities.

Meeting Agendas
Improvement is needed in preparing and posting meeting agendas in 15 governmental entities.

Complete Audit Report
Missouri State Auditor's Office
moaudit@auditor.mo.gov

Federal Open Government Guide NOW AVAILABLE!

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has released the 10th edition of its guide to federal open government laws, now titled the “Federal Open Government Guide.”

The guide provides resources to navigate the federal Freedom of Information Act, the 43-year-old law that provides the public with access to government agency records. The new edition also addresses the federal open meetings law (Government in the Sunshine Act), the Privacy Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which provides a right of access to records and meetings of advisors outside the government.

For more complex situations, attorneys at the Reporters Committee are also available to aid reporters using these laws, free of charge, at (703) 807-2100 or via email at hotline@rcfp.org.

The Federal Open Government Guide is available free of charge through the Reporters Committee’s website at: www.rcfp.org/fogg.

Hard copies of the guide are available for $10 per copy. To order the guide, call (703) 807-2100, email publications@rcfp.org, or visit www.rcfp.org/orderform.