d. Online dissemination

The State of Alabama has a website at http://www.alabama.gov. The State Agencies portion of the site (http://info.alabama.gov/) has links to websites for over 200 State departments and agencies.  The content of these sites varies a great deal, from public relations and descriptive information about the particular agency or department to more substantive information, e.g., maps, statistics, and resource material and citations. There is no fee for these sites.

Under Executive Order 734, each executive branch agency is required to establish an agency public records webpage to facilitate public records requests.

Case action summaries for pending civil and criminal actions in all Alabama trial courts, with search capability are available on alacourt.com. The cost is a one-time fee of $150, and a monthly fee of $84 to $134, depending on the number of users. Access is available for free to Alabama State Bar members at a limited number of county courthouse libraries.

Appellate decisions from Alabama Appellate Courts may be found at judicial.alabama.gov.

The state public records laws encourage public agencies to provide access to information in a variety of ways that go beyond what the agencies are required to produce as basic “public records,” called “electronic products and services.” AS 40.25.115. Among the various categories of electronic products and services contemplated by the state is on-line access to electronic files and databases. The statute provides that fees for such access, as is the case with access to other electronic products and services providing more than just access to public records, can take into account the need to recover actual incremental costs of providing such electronic services and products, and a reasonable portion of the costs associated with building and maintaining the information system of the public agency. AS 40.25.115(b). See generally, [State Law on Electronic Records] §III.I of this guide. When offering on-line access to an electronic file or database, a public agency also must provide without charge on-line access to the electronic file or database through one or more public terminals. AS 40.25.115(f). See also, 2 AAC 96.450.

No statute governs online dissemination

The FOIA requires that a “state agency, board, or commission” make certain records “publicly accessible, without charge, in electronic form via the Internet.” Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-108(b)(1). The custodian may respond to a FOIA request by directing the requestor to the specific Internet location of the information. Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-108(b)(2).
There are five types of information that agencies, boards, and commissions must make available on the Internet. The first category of information is “[a] description of its organization, including central and field offices, the general course and method of its operations” as well as the organization’s “established locations” and contact information for those locations, including “telephone numbers and street, mailing, electronic mail, and internet addresses and the methods by which the public may obtain access to public records.” Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-108(a)(1).
The second type of information that the organization must provide is “[a] list and general description of its records, including computer databases.” Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-108(a)(2).
The third type of information that the organization must provide is “[i]ts regulations, rules of procedure, any formally proposed changes, and all other written statements of policy or interpretations formulated, adopted, or used by the agency, board, or commission in the discharge of its functions.” Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-108(a)(3)(A). Only items “that directly affect procedure and decision-making” are included in this category. Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-108(a)(3)(B)(i). The FOIA exempts the following types of information from this rule: “[p]ersonnel policies, procedures, and internal policies” and “[s]urveys, polls, and fact-gathering for decision-making.” Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-108(a)(3)(B)(ii)–(iii). Additionally, “[s]tatistical data furnished to a state agency shall be posted only after the agency has concluded its final compilation and result.” Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-108(a)(3)(B)(iv).
The fourth type of information that the organization must make available online is “[a]ll documents composing an administrative adjudication decision in a contested matter, except the parts of the decision that are expressly confidential under state or federal law.” Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-108(a)(4).
Finally, all records that the organization determines are or will likely become “the subject of frequent requests” must be provided on the Internet, “regardless of medium or format.” Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-108(a)(5).

Section 7922.545(a) of the CPRA allows an agency to post on its website public records and direct a requester seeking to inspect such records to its website in lieu of allowing inspection of public records at its offices. However, if the requester is unable to access the site or download the records, the agency must promptly provide a copy of the public records to the requester upon request. Cal. Gov’t Code § 7922.545(b).

Currently there are no cases related to online dissemination, email, text or other electronic messages, social media posts or the creation or compilation of a new record. Guidance regarding computer software can be found under Conn. Gen. Stat. §1-211.

Not specifically addressed.

An agency has discretion to provide access to public records by remote electronic means.  See Fla. Stat. § 119.085.  Fees for remote electronic access must be in accordance with § 119.07(2)(c).  If an agency chooses to provide remote access, the custodian must provide safeguards to protect the contents of public records from unauthorized remote electronic access or alteration and to prevent the disclosure or modification of those portions of public records which by general or special law are exempt from § 119.07(2)(b).  Id.

The Attorney General has approved a municipality’s creation of a static website containing documents sought through a records request, as well the municipality’s demand for reimbursement from the requestor of the funds expended in creating the website, which cost substantially less than the fee for copying the requested documents.  Op. Att’y Gen. Fla. 06-30 (2006).

The Act does not require online dissemination of public records, but many state and local agencies do so routinely for many categories of records.

There is no provision in the Act or relevant case law relating to online dissemination.

There is no statutory or case law addressing this issue.

The Act does not require that public records be made available on-line. Any public entity that has a publicly accessible site on the internet associated with it must develop a privacy policy and post notice of it on its website.  14-A M.R.S.A. § 541.

There is no statutory or case law addressing this issue; some agencies do provide access to certain records via the applicable agency's public website.

Requests for on-line access to records or for a subscription service to certain information do not fall under the Public Records Law, because they are requests for documents not yet created.  A custodian may set the fee for such access.  SPR Bulletin 4-96, at ¶ 6.

Among the agencies providing records online are the following:

Courts

Massachusetts Trial Courts Information Center.  http://www.ma-trialcourts.org/tcic/welcome.jsp Massachusetts appellate courts.  http://www.ma-appellatecourts.org/search.php

Business Data

Corporations.  http://corp.sec.state.ma.us/corp/corpsearch/corpsearchinput.asp Corporate finance statements.  http://corp.sec.state.ma.us/uccfiling/uccSearch/Default.aspx

Licensing and registration

Board of Bar Overseers (attorney discipline records).  http://massbbo.org/bbolookup.php Board of Reg. in Medicine (MD profiles).  http://profiles.massmedboard.org/MA-Physician-Profile-Find-Doctor.asp Division of Prof’l Licensure (licensed professionals).  http://license.reg.state.ma.us/public/licque.asp?color=red Municipal inspection departments, such as:  Boston restaurant inspections:   http://www.cityofboston.gov/isd/health/mfc/court.asp  Cambridge restaurant inspections: http://www2.cambridgema.gov/inspectional/searchinspections.cfm

Political Data

Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (campaign finance data).  http://www.efs.cpf.state.ma.us/ Registry of lobbyists.  http://www.sec.state.ma.us/LobbyistWeb/Common/Signin.aspx Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (state budget data).  http://browser.massbudget.org/Default.aspx Massachusetts Legislature (bill tracker).  http://www.malegislature.gov/Bills/Search

Property records

Massachusetts Registry of Deeds.  http://masslandrecords.com/malr/index.htm Municipal property assessments, such as:  Boston: http://www.cityofboston.gov/assessing/search/ Cambridge: http://www2.cambridgema.gov/fiscalaffairs/PropertySearch.cfm

Public safety

Department of Correction (criminal offender custody and case status). https://www.vinelink.com/vinelink/siteInfoAction.do?siteId=20000 MBTA Transit Police arrest log.  http://www.mbta.com/transitpolice/crimestats/arrestlog/ Sex Offender Registry Board.  http://sorb.chs.state.ma.us/ Municipal crime logs, such as: Boston: http://www.bpdnews.com/ Brookline:  http://blog.brooklinepolice.com/

Other government functions

Massachusetts Abandoned Property Division.  http://www2.cambridgema.gov/fiscalaffairs/PropertySearch.cfm Massachusetts Officer of Geographic Information Systems (online database).  http://maps.massgis.state.ma.us/map_ol/oliver.php Boston Neighborhood Services.  http://www.cityofboston.gov/myneighborhood/

Many of these databases, as well as many useful privately created resources, are collected on a useful, comprehensive site called “Government Center: Boston.com’s Guide to Public Records, Databases, and Useful Information,” available at http://www.boston.com/news/specials/government_center/ .  Also useful is www.publicrecordcenter.com .  A reasonably comprehensive collection of public notices, including government notices, can be found at MyPublicRecords.com.

Not specifically addressed.

When electronic transmission of government data is requested, the responsible government agency is permitted to recover the cost of searching for and retrieving the data, and for copying and transmitting the data. Minn. Stat. § 13.03, subd. 3(c).

See above.

Missouri operates an extensive Web site on the Internet. The information available on the site changes rapidly, and includes judicial decisions, administrative agency records and reports, and voluminous business registration information. The Missouri State Government home site can be found at http://www.state.mo.us.

No statutory or case law on this issue.

Neb. Rev. Stat. §84-712(3)(b) acknowledges that electronic records can be disseminated online but provides no other guidance.

There are no restrictions placed on the subsequent use of the public records by the NPRA.

The Statute does not address this issue.

N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(d) provides:

1. A custodian shall permit access to a government record and provide a copy thereof in the medium requested if the public agency maintains the record in that medium.  If the public agency does not maintain the record in the medium requested, the custodian shall either convert the record to the medium requested or provide a copy in some other meaningful medium.  If a request is for a record: (1) in a medium not routinely used by the agency; (2) not routinely developed or maintained by an agency; or (3) requiring a substantial amount of manipulation or programming of information technology, the agency may charge, in addition to the actual cost of duplication, a special charge that shall be reasonable and shall be based on the cost for any extensive use of information technology, or for the labor cost of personnel providing the service, that is actually incurred by the agency or attributable to the agency for the programming, clerical, and supervisory assistance required, or both.

A county or municipality may allow users to access its network system to search and retrieve geographic information from a computer database and may charge reasonable fees for such online dissemination.  NMSA 1978 § 14-3-18(G) (2005).  It is unclear whether this provision allows governmental entities to charge for other information distributed via websites; however, many counties and municipalities in New Mexico maintain websites containing electronic records in various forms.

The statutes and case law do not directly address this issue.

A public agency or custodian may satisfy the obligation to permit inspection and copying of public records by making the records available online in a format that allows a person to view the record and print or save it. G.S. § 132-6(a1).

The open records statute does not address online dissemination.

The Public Records Act does not require a public office to post public records online on the office's website. State ex rel. Patton v. Rhodes, 129 Ohio St.3d 182, 950 N.E.2d 965, 2011-Ohio-3093.

The statute authorizes a public office to choose "to provide some or all of its public records on a web site that is fully accessible to and searchable by members of the public at all times." Ohio Rev. Code § 149.43(b)(7)(c)(ii).

A related statute bars a public office from including individual social security numbers on public records that the office posts on its website. Ohio Rev. Code § 149.45(B).

The same statute allows a public office to comply with a request by any individual to redact that individual's "personal information" from any public record on the office's website. Personal information is an individual's social security number, tax identification number, financial account number, and medical account number. Ohio Rev. Code § 149.45(A), (C).

In addition to redacting personal information, a public office may redact a law enforcement officer's address from a record posted on the office's website. Ohio Rev. Code § 149.45(D).

Not specifically addressed.

ORS 192.318 (formerly ORS 192.430) requires a custodian of public records to provide “proper and reasonable opportunities for inspection and examination of the records in the office of the custodian” during usual business hours to persons seeking access to public records, and ORS 192.324 (1) (formerly ORS 192.440(1) requires “a reasonable opportunity to inspect or copy” public records.

In 2009, the Oregon Legislature established the Oregon Transparency Website, which provides for the proactive disclosure of certain information by state agencies and education service districts. See ORS 276A.250-262. The Oregon Transparency Website is discussed in more detail below.

Separately, in 2017, the Oregon Legislature passed SB 481, which creates the Chief Data Officer with the obligation to, inter alia, establish a central web portal for disclosable information using an open data standard. See ORS 276A.350 to 276A.374. The law specifically provides that it does not supersede any obligations imposed under the Public Records Law. ORS 276A.371.

Many agencies make some of their records publicly available online in their own discretion and by statute.  However, the Law does not require online dissemination of public records.

Not directly addressed.

Many public bodies are posting records on line for public access without a request or a charge. Anderson County initiated a program to post all of its financial transactions for public inspection.

State government has a home page and provides access to a variety of information via the internet. Contracts, in particular, may be made accessible to the public via internet. SDCL §1-27-4.2.

Some government agencies have websites with some public records available from those sites.

Section 552.272 provides for the inspection of electronic records when copies are not requested. Subsection (d) states that "if information is created or kept in an electronic form, a governmental body is encouraged to explore options to separate out confidential information and to make public information available to the public through electronic access through a computer network or by other means." Generally, a charge may not be imposed for access to online information unless complying with a request will require programming or manipulation of data. Tex. Gov’t Code § 552.272(a).

The availability of online transmission of records varies between government entities. The requester should inquire with the government entity that maintains the record to determine if online dissemination is available. In 2005, GRAMA was amended to allow a government entity to provide access to an electronic record in lieu of providing access to its paper equivalent. Utah Code § 63G-2-201(12) (2005) (current version at id. § 63G–2–201(13)).

Not specified.

If nonexempt records are maintained in an electronic database, the public body shall produce them in any tangible medium identified by the requester, including posting the records on a website or delivering them through email. Va. Code Ann. § 2.2-3704.G.

The PRA provides that an agency may respond to a record request by providing a link to the requested record on the agency’s website (unless the requester lacks internet access, in which case the agency must provide a hard copy). RCW 42.56.520.

When requested records are transferred to FOIA requesters by e-mail or are downloaded by requesters from a government website, no fees should be assessed as the government body would have incurred no “actual cost of reproduction.”

The convicted sex offender registry, in which offenders are entered if the likelihood of a re-offense is high, must be accessible online. Wyo. Stat. § 7-19-303(c)(iii) (1977) (current through 2005 legislative session). The statute also lists the type of information about the offender which is included in the database.

Also, state contracts are generally available on the Department of Information and Administration website.