Conn. FOIA panel rules against state ethics officials

Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Commission ruled on Wednesday that state ethics officials broke the law when they refused to release documents requested by the Hartford Courant last year. 

Courant staff writer Jon Lender filed a complaint against officials for denying his request to receive information on Ben Bycel, then-ethics director, who was surrounded by questions about his controversial behavior.

The commission agreed with Lender’s complaint and found that the Office of State Ethics and the Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board violated FOIA when they chose not to release the documents.