Birthdates

The Oklahoma Supreme Court earlier this week nixed a proposed rule that would have severely limited personal information contained in court records in favor of one that allows, but does not require, the omission of basic identifying data.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the birth dates of public employees may not be released under the state's open records law after finding that the privacy interests of the employees outweigh the public interest in disclosure in Oklahoma Public Employees Assocation v. State of Oklahoma. The ruling affirms the lower court ruling, which was appealed by both parties.

An Oklahoma County district court judge found last week that state agency employee identification numbers are confidential, but held that agencies have the discretion to determine whether employee birth dates are matters of public record.

The Oklahoma Public Employees Association sued the state in March to prevent the release of state employee information that was requested by the Tulsa World and The Oklahoman, said Kevin Donelson, an attorney for the OPEA.

A new law in Maine restricts access to the birth, death and marriage records of state citizens, The Associated Press reported.

Gov. John Baldacci signed the law on April 2. Now, only the person on the document, their spouse, parents, descendants or designated agents have access to such records. Genealogists and researchers will also be granted access if they have a researcher identification card.

Oklahoma has made more than $65 million in the last five years selling its citizens' private information -- including birth dates of state employees that it has refused to release in response to public records requests, The Oklahoman and Tulsa World reported.