Alabama Senate committee OKs bill requiring timely responses to public records requests

Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, the chairman of the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee, on the floor of the Alabama Senate on March 7, 2023. Legislators gathered Tuesday for the first day of the Alabama Legislature's 2023 regular session. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

An Alabama Senate committee Tuesday approved a bill that would require state agencies to acknowledge and respond to public records requests within a certain timeframe.

SB 270, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, would set a 10-day deadline for agencies to acknowledge requests for public records. The office would have 15 business days to make a decision to approve, deny or deny in part the request, which may be extended for another 15 days with notice to the requester.

The bill would give requestors the right to sue if the request has not been approved or denied or if the records have not been produced after fees are paid within 30 business days or 60 calendar days.

Alabama state law does not currently require public agencies to respond to document requests. Public bodies in Alabama average about 188 days to respond to requests for information, according to MuckRock, a nonprofit organization that focuses on open governments.

Huntsville in 2022 received the “Golden Padlock” award from the Investigative Reporters and Editors, highlighting secretive governments, for failing to release body camera footage after a police officer shot and killed a man suffering from suicidal ideation.

Gov. Kay Ivey last year issued an executive order that requires agencies to respond to requests in two days and to make a formal response in 15 days. The order could lapse or be revoked by Ivey or a future governor.

“What we’re trying to do in this bill is set some timelines for responses by the appropriate governing bodies,” Orr said to the committee.

Orr said that agencies would still be able to ignore “frivolous” requests, or requests he said are “overly broad” or unreasonable. If the agency asks for clarification, the timelines would restart once the public officer receives the requested clarification.

The bill would also separate a “standard request” from a “time-intensive requests.”

After submitting a form, the agency would notify the requester that the request is “time-intensive” within 15 days, as well as providing any likely fees. If the requester proceeds with the “time-intensive request”, the agency would have to fulfill or deny the request within 45 business days. The agency may extend this period in 45-business-day increments by notifying the requester in writing.

The bill did not provide an appeals process for denied requests, and it would not apply to judicial records.

Orr introduced a similar bill last year, which passed the Senate and a House committee but did not come to the floor before the end of the session. House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said last year the governor wanted to take “a closer look” at the legislation.

Orr has brought similar open records bills in previous years as well, but local government groups have often opposed them, citing the potential to be flooded by bad faith requests.

“It’s important for our state, and we need to improve our open records laws because that’s a fundamental piece of our American form of government — is letting the citizens have access to government records,” Orr said after the bill moved out of committee.

The bill moves to the Senate floor.

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