Personnel records

Rhode Island's governor signed into law yesterday what open records advocates have called the first major revisions in 14 years to its Access to Public Records Act -- changes that will both make more records available and give requestors more rights under the act.

The Arkansas Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision yesterday confirming that police officers' self-prepared reports – detailing instances where force was used – are subject to public release under the state's Freedom of Information Act.

The names of city of Long Beach police officers involved in shootings are subject to disclosure under the California Open Records Act, a California appeals court ruled this week.

The Second Appellate Court District upheld a lower court's finding that the release of the names of Long Beach police officers who were involved in shootings was not an invasion of privacy and the names were not protected as part of personnel or investigative files under the law.

Gawker and the New York Civil Liberties Union have filed a suit seeking records regarding an investigation conducted by the Nassau County Police Department on one of its' officers -- an investigation the popular website alleges was prompted by Fox News journalist Bill O'Reilly who suspected his wife had an affair with the officer.

The Montana Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the city of Billings must release an internal investigation letter issued to a police department employee who allegedly made personal purchases on a department credit card.

The New Jersey Supreme Court clarified two exemptions to the state’s open records act Tuesday in its ruling in Vasil Kovalcik v. Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.

The court examined the scope and application of two provisions that exempt certain government records from disclosure: one regarding records deemed confidential by a court order and another regarding access to government employee personnel records.

Maryland’s high court has agreed to hear a case about whether the state police department is required to disclose complaints of racial profiling under the state's public information laws.

The case stems from a dispute between the Maryland National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which sought access to the records in 2007 under the Maryland Public Information Act, and the Maryland State Police, which denied the request, claiming that the complaints were exempt as "personnel records."

Illinois legislators passed a bill yesterday that will exempt the performance evaluations of teachers and school administrators from public disclosure if it is signed into law, The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reported. 

Internal affairs records in police agencies are public, the Illinois Appellate Court in Springfield ruled last week, in a citizen's lawsuit over records of past complaints against a police officer he claims mistreated him during a traffic stop.

Texas lawmakers are considering pulling from public records the birth dates of state employees, in a bid to guard against identity theft, the Associated Press reports.