II. Exemptions and other legal limitations

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In Georgia, all records prepared and maintained or received in the operation of a public office or agency—or by private persons or entities operating for or on behalf of such agencies—are presumptively open for public inspection and copying. "The underlying implication" of the Act "is that all records of all state, county and municipal authorities are open to public inspection unless closed by a specific exception." Doe v. Sears, 245 Ga. 83, 263 S.E.2d 119 (1980), cert. den’d, 446 U.S. 979 (1980).

All public records are subject to inspection and copying unless otherwise expressly provided by statute. Idaho Code § 74-102(1). Idaho has listed actual types of records exempt from public disclosure. Idaho Code §§ 74-104 to 74-111. Generally these exemptions are mandatory; however, there are a few which are discretionary or can be waived.

Kansas has a laundry list exemption statute. K.S.A. 45-221.

Exemptions are discretionary, except for one, and are not patterned after the federal Freedom of Information Act.

The exemptions to Kentucky’s Open Records Act are set forth at Ky. Rev. Stat. 61.878(1).

Access to public records is limited by the twelve exemptions contained within the FOAA itself and by many statutes outside the FOAA governing public access to particular types of records. 1 M.R.S.A. § 402(3).  If records are not within the scope of an exemption they are public.

The Sunshine Law expressly states that it is to be liberally construed to promote the policy of open government, and that exceptions are to be strictly construed. Mo.Rev.Stat. § 610.011(1). See also, e.g., National Council for Teachers Quality, Inc. v. Curators of University of Missouri, 446 S.W.723 (Mo. Ct. App. 2014); Great Rivers Environmental Law Center v. City of St. Peters, 290 S.W.3d 732 (Mo.Ct.App. 2009) (exceptions are to be strictly construed); Tipton v. Barton, 747 S.W.2d 325, 330 (Mo.Ct.App. 1988) (exceptions set forth in the Sunshine Law are to be narrowly construed); MacLachlan v. McNary, 684 S.W.2d 534, 537 (Mo.Ct.App. 1984) (exceptions in the Sunshine Law are to be narrowly construed). The Public Records Law enumerates no exceptions. Rather, disclosure is subject to “reasonable rules and conditions imposed by the proper authorities.” State ex rel. Gray v. Brigham, 622 S.W.2d 734, 735 (Mo.Ct.App. 1981). Therefore, this section deals with the Sunshine Law only.

Because the general rule under North Dakota law is that all records are open unless an exception applies, much of North Dakota open records law consists of exceptions to the rule. Without an express exception, any public record is an open record.

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