2. Ombudsperson

None.

Local ordinances governing access to public meetings and public records (commonly referred to as sunshine ordinances) often designate a particular information officer or other employee to field complaints regarding CPRA and Brown Act violations. Aggrieved individuals should ascertain whether their municipality has a sunshine ordinance and, if so, whether the ordinance designates such an individual.

The D.C. Act contains no provision regarding the availability of an ombudsman.

The Florida Legislature has created a Voluntary Mediation Program within the Attorney General’s Office to mediate disputes involving access to public records. See Fla. Stat. § 16.60 (2012).

Although the Act does not specifically provide for an ombudsperson, the Office of the Attorney General has established an Open Government Mediation Program “to help citizens with questions or concerns about local government’s decisions to close meetings to the public or governmental responses to Open Records requests.” The program will sometimes mediate public meeting issues between citizens and municipal or county agencies, but as of now considers disputes with state agencies off limits. See C. Norins & J. Ramsingh, Judges should protect Georgians’ open records rights by awarding legal fees to victorious plaintiffs, Daily Report, June 18, 2025.

The ombudsman, who is appointed by the legislature, has jurisdiction to investigate the administrative "acts of agencies." Haw. Rev. Stat. § 96-5; see generally id., ch. 96 (describing functions of the Office of Ombudsman).

See “Attorney General” above.

The office of the Indiana Public Access Counselor was created in 1999. Ind. Code § 5-14-4-6. The Public Access Counselor is appointed by the governor for an indefinite term at the governor’s discretion, and is responsible for conducting research, preparing educational materials, responding to informal inquiries made by the public and public agencies concerning the public access laws, and issuing advisory opinions to interpret the public access laws upon the request of person or a public agency. Ind. Code § 5-14-4-10. The Public Access Counselor’s advisory opinions are available online at http://www.in.gov/pac/2330.htm, and its informal opinions are available online at http://www.in.gov/pac/2329.htm.

Public agencies must cooperate with the Public Access Counselor in any investigation or proceeding. Ind. Code § 5-14-5-5. However, seeking the opinion of the Public Access Counselor is separate from the enforcement process that occurs in the courts. Consulting the Public Access Counselor is not required, Ind. Code § 5-14-5-4, but is advisable because failing to do so precludes a prevailing plaintiff from collecting attorney fees if litigation becomes necessary, with a limited exception. Ind. Code § 5-14-3-9(i).

The office of the Ombudsman has statutory authority to "[i]nvestigate, on complaint or on the ombudsman's own motion, any administrative action of any agency, without regard to the finality of the administrative action, except that the ombudsman shall not investigate the complaint of an employee of an agency in regard to that employee's employment relationship with the agency except as otherwise provided by this chapter." Iowa Code § 2C.9(1).
Under Chapter 2C, "'Agency' means all governmental entities, departments, boards, commissions, councils or institutions, and any officer, employee or member thereof acting or purporting to act in the exercise of official duties, but it does not include:

a. Any court or judge or appurtenant judicial staff.
b. The members, committees, or permanent or temporary staffs of the Iowa general assembly.
c. The governor of Iowa or the governor's personal staff.
d. Any instrumentality formed pursuant to an interstate compact and answerable to more than one state."

Iowa Code § 2C.1(2).

Thus, it appears that the Citizen's Aide has the statutory authority to investigate a complaint regarding actions taken with respect to the Open Records Law.

Government bodies shall designate a local freedom of information officer who can be available to resolve disputes. K.S.A. 45-226.

The Kentucky Open Records Act does not provide for an ombudsperson.

See above regarding mediation before the Public Access Ombudsman.

The Supervisor of Public Records, an administrative official in the Division of Public Records, which in turn is located within the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, is empowered to rule on the public status of government records held by entities subject to the act. That division generally has an attorney assigned each day to respond to inquiries from the public. To speak to the “Attorney of the Day,” call (617) 828-2832 between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on business days. The office generally declines to provide advisory opinions.

The FOIA does not provide for an ombudsman.

See below.

The statute does not provide for an ombudsman. However, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-7 establishes a Government Records Council which is charged with, among other things, establishing an informal mediation program to facilitate the resolution of disputes regarding access to government records.

Not available.

Not available.

The 2017 Legislature created the office of the Public Records Advocate. ORS 192.461-192.475. The Public Records Advocate’s role is to “provide facilitated dispute resolution services” when requested by either a requestor of public records held by a state agency or by the state agency itself. ORS 192.464.

A facilitated dispute resolution is to be completed within 21 days of a written request to the advocate, subject to extension by the parties. ORS 192.464(7). If the process results in an agreed resolution, the advocate will prepare a written agreement for signing by the requestor and the agency, which agreement shall then control the resolution of the dispute. ORS 192.464(8).

The Public Records Advocate “may” also provide such services in relation to requests for records from a city, upon the mutual consent of both the requestor and the city. ORS 192.464(6).

There is no state ombudsman; however, the Vermont Legislature recently considered a measure that would create an independent ombudsman position that would be charged with reviewing records that have been blocked from release to determine whether state agencies are adequately protecting the public’s right to know.

None.

There is no ombudsperson provision in the Public Records Act. The Washington Attorney General’s Office has an “open government ombudsman,” who is available to consult on and assist with public records and open meetings issues. http://www.atg.wa.gov/OpenGovernment/Ombudsman.aspx.

Wisconsin has no ombudsman process for resolving open records disputes.

In 2019, the Wyoming legislature created an ombudsman system for mediating public records disputes.