Alaska

Accident reports, like other documents in the custody or control of law enforcement or other public officials, should be disclosable pursuant to the state Public Records Act, but as a practical matter will most likely be withheld or redacted at least initially, under one or more of the provisions of AS 40.25.120(a)(6), especially (a)(6)(A), regarding withholding of records that could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings, or perhaps (6)(C), that permits withholding when disclosure could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of the personal p

Real estate negotiations will generally fall within AS 44.62.310(c)(2) while they are ongoing, assuming that immediate public knowledge of such negotiations "would clearly have an adverse effect on the finances of the government unit."

The scope and coverage of the Public Records Act was intended by the legislature to be very broad, and the Supreme Court has interpreted it this way. The statute was amended in 1990 to expand the definition of public records, most significantly to reaffirm that it includes drafts, memorializations of conversations, and records "developed or received by a public agency or by a public contractor for a public agency." AS 40.25.220(6). The state has adopted regulations interpreting and implementing the public records law.

The Open Meetings Act covers "meetings" of various public bodies, and does not purport to regulate communications between and among specific executive branch employees, as such, e.g., between the governor or mayor and his or her aides. So, whether or not a meeting attended by a particular government official, such as a governor or mayor, is covered by the OMA depends on whether that gathering is otherwise a meeting, and not on the attendance of that specific individual.

Overview

Alaska

This is not addressed.

1. Cooperative records. The books and records of electric and telephone utility cooperatives, generally open to members, may be withheld when they concern specific matters that were prepared for or during an executive session and not subsequently made public by the cooperative, and the cooperative may also withhold the identity of public information that was referenced during the executive session. AS 10.25.235.

Alaska appellate courts have not had occasion to squarely address the existence or scope of a reporter's privilege. Various trial courts have recognized and applied the qualified constitutional privilege, and in doing so have not articulated circumstances constituting waiver of the privilege or standards for determining that the privilege has been deemed waived. However, trial courts have quashed subpoenas in a number of cases not involving confidential sources, implicitly rejecting the notion that the privilege is waived when the source's identity is known.

A court suit concerning open meetings law violations is begun the same as any court suit, by filing a complaint and paying the $100 filing fee. There is no provision in court rules for simply running in to a judge to get a ruling on opening a particular meeting without filing a complaint and naming the appropriate people as defendants and serving summons on them. (Note, however, that expedited preliminary proceedings usually occur before the complaint and summons(es) are served on the defendant(s) and before an answer is filed.)