Local Legal Initiative
The Local Legal Initiative provides local news organizations with the direct legal services they need to pursue enterprise and investigative stories in their communities. If you’re a journalist that needs legal assistance, contact the Reporters Committee through our free Legal Hotline.
Reporters Committee attorneys are currently based in seven states — Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee — to help local journalists and news organizations defend their rights to gather and report the news, gain access to public records and court proceedings, and hold state and local government accountable. Later in 2026, the Reporters Committee will expand the Local Legal Initiative to Michigan and Minnesota. The Local Legal Initiative was also active in Oregon through 2022.
Our impact
Reporters Committee attorneys in Local Legal Initiative states have successfully pushed for greater transparency from cities and counties, police departments, state agencies, public universities, and more, prying loose records that shed light on everything from fatal police shootings and secret school board meetings to medical marijuana oversight and violence inside county jails. They’ve also defended journalists from libel suits and subpoenas of their newsgathering sources. Their work has helped shape laws and change city and county policies in favor of greater government transparency and more informed communities.
Outside the courtroom, Local Legal Initiative attorneys have also trained thousands of journalists on their First Amendment and newsgathering rights, responded to hundreds of calls to the Reporters Committee’s free Legal Hotline, and reviewed investigative stories before publication to help local reporters and newsrooms reduce their legal risk.
About
The Local Legal Initiative is partially funded by a $10 million investment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as part of the foundation’s pledge to double its commitment to strengthening local journalism. Expansion of the program was made possible in part by $1.25 million in new funding awarded as part of Press Forward’s Open Call on Infrastructure, which is providing $22.7 million to 22 projects that address the urgent challenges local newsrooms face today. The Reporters Committee and our partners are actively seeking further philanthropic support to sustain and grow the program.
Colorado
In Colorado, Local Legal Initiative attorney Rachael Johnson has helped journalists and news organizations push for greater government transparency and accountability. She has represented journalists and newsrooms in several public records and open meetings cases, including matters concerning access to the disciplinary records of school district administrators, the recording of a city’s unlawful executive session, data about the certification and training of Colorado law enforcement officers, and more.
Learn more about the Colorado Local Legal Initiative.
Indiana
Since launching in Indiana in 2024, Local Legal Initiative attorney Kris Cundiff has helped a local media coalition challenge press access restrictions around executions as well as represented news outlets in a successful open meetings lawsuit that prompted a local school board to adopt transparency reforms.
Learn more about the Indiana Local Legal Initiative.
Louisiana
In 2026, the Reporters Committee expanded the Local Legal Initiative to Louisiana and hired Virginia Hamrick, based in New Orleans, to provide direct pro bono legal support to local journalists and news organizations across the state.
Learn more about the Louisiana Local Legal Initiative.
Michigan
The Local Legal Initiative will fully launch in Michigan later in 2026. Soon, the Reporters Committee will announce an in-state attorney who provides local news organizations with direct legal services to pursue enterprise and investigative stories in their communities.
Learn more about the Michigan Local Legal Initiative.
Minnesota
The Local Legal Initiative will fully launch in Minnesota later in 2026. Soon, the Reporters Committee will announce an in-state attorney who provides local news organizations with direct legal services to pursue enterprise and investigative stories in their communities.
Learn more about the Minnesota Local Legal Initiative.
Mississippi
In 2026, the Reporters Committee expanded the Local Legal Initiative to Mississippi and hired Andrew Coffman, based in Tupelo, to provide direct pro bono legal support to local journalists and news organizations across the state.
Learn more about the Mississippi Local Legal Initiative.
Oklahoma
In Oklahoma, Local Legal Initiative attorney Leslie Briggs has represented news outlets in lawsuits that forced a city to turn over unlawfully withheld law enforcement records and the state education agency to disclose records related to the resignation of a senior official.
Previously, Reporters Committee attorneys have represented local journalists and newsrooms in a variety of litigation matters, including cases involving access to 911 call recordings, COVID-19 data, tribal government records, and more.
Learn more about the Oklahoma Local Legal Initiative.
Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania, Local Legal Initiative attorney Paula Knudsen Burke has helped journalists and news organizations across the state increase government transparency and accountability. She has represented local journalists and newsrooms in lawsuits against townships, counties, state agencies, universities, and more, prying loose public records that have fueled impactful investigative reporting, including stories about Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program, a prison contractor’s wrongful-death settlements, and a public transit agency’s failure to track incidents of sexual assault and harassment targeting its employees.
Learn more about the Pennsylvania Local Legal Initiative.
Tennessee
In Tennessee, Local Legal Initiative attorney Paul McAdoo has litigated many public records and court access cases on behalf of journalists and newsrooms across the state, powering investigative stories about violence at a county jail, a fatal police beating, the salaries of a publicly owned hospital’s executives, and more.