Wyoming
In a forward-looking
effort to keep up with public records in the modern age, Wyoming access advocates
amended the Wyoming Public Records Act (WPRA) to include electronic records.
While the measure passed through the legislature “without much convincing,”
according to Wyoming Press Association Executive Director Jim Angell, several
bills in the 2003 General Session were intended to limit accessible information,
including masking the identities of legal predator hunters and amending WPRA
as a security measure.
The law.
Effective July 1, 2002, electronic records are included in the WPRA and are
accessible under the same guidelines outlined in the original law. Public records
include “original and copies of paper, correspondence, form, book, photostat,
film, microfilm, sound recording, map drawing or other document, regardless
of physical form or characteristics . . .” Wyo. Stat. Ann. §
16-4-201(v).
The WPRA lists 17 exemptions from disclosure. Some documents may be denied if the records custodian feels that disclosure would be “contrary to the public interest.” The custodian may apply for a district court order to deny access to the requested records. § 16-4-203(b)(g).
Government agencies
must provide an electronic record in “alternative formats” unless
to do wo would be “impractical or impossible.” § 16-4-203(ii).
If an agency believes
that compiling and extracting data as well as creating a new record interferes
with its “ability to discharge its duties,” the agency is not required
to comply with the electronic records request. § 16-4-203 (iii).
Cases &
opinions. The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled in 1983 that WPRA should be interpreted
liberally and the exemptions construed narrowly. The ruling has been cited several
times by the court in WPRA cases. Sheridan Newspapers Inc. v. City of Sheridan,
660 P.2d 794 (Wyo. 1983). Public officials may not deny access to an entire
class of records, absent a compelling state interest. Houghton v. Franscell,
870 P.2d 1050, 1053 (Wyo. 1994).
Fees. Agencies
may recover the cost of producing and constructing the record, including programming
and computer services costs. The statute states that all charges for records
“shall first be authorized by duly enacted or adopted statute, rule, resolution,
ordinance, executive order or other like authority” after July 1, 2003.
Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 16-4-204c.
Software. While
software is briefly addressed in WPRA, it is noted that an agency may deny inspection
and copying of records if that “would jeopardize or compromise the security
and integrity” of the original record or proprietary software. Wyo. Stat.
Ann. § 16-4-202(iv).
Special cases.
The Wyoming Natural Diversity Database at the University of Wyoming:
The custodian may charge a fee to search and prepare a report, which may not
contain “recommendations for restrictions on any public or private land.”
The requester may only inspect database records at a “level of spatial
precision equal to the township, but at no more precise level.” Private-funded
research reports prepared by the database are exempt from disclosure, as well
as records on private land without the landowner’s written consent. Wyo.
Stat. § 16-4-203 (h).
Resources. Wyoming Press Association