Louisiana Voice/Capitol News Service has made three separate formal public records requests of the “most transparent administration in Louisiana history” and so far, not a peep has been received in response. Only silence.
Nothing.
Nada.
Zilch.
The most ethical administration ever has been strangely quiet when asked to give an accounting of its own actions.
We requested documentation of the number of days Gov. Bobby Jindal was out of the state during calendar year 2010. We even went so far as to stipulate the purposes for his extended absences for him: campaign appearances for fellow Republicans, fund raisers for his own re-election campaign, and promotional appearances to hawk his self-serving book, Leadership and Crisis, the autobiography that he hopes will catapult him into the U.S. presidency. Or not.
We can only assume the Louisiana public records law, R.S. 44:1 applies to the governor’s office. After all, the definition of a “public body” is clearly spelled out in the statute as “any branch, department, office, agency, board, commission, district, governing authority, political subdivision, or any committee, subcommittee, advisory board, or task force thereof, or any other instrumentality of state, parish, or municipal government, including a public or quasi-public nonprofit corporation designated as an entity to perform a governmental or proprietary function.”
The definition also includes “all books, records, writings, accounts, letters and letter books, maps, drawings, photographs, cards, tapes, recordings, memoranda, and papers, and all copies, duplicates, photographs, including microfilm, or other reproductions thereof, or any other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, including information contained in electronic data processing equipment, having been used, being in use, or prepared, possessed, or retained for use in the conduct, transaction, or performance of any business, transaction, work, duty, or function which was conducted, transacted, or performed by or under the authority of the constitution or laws of this state, or by or under the authority of any ordinance, regulation, mandate, or order of any public body or concerning the receipt or payment of any money received or paid by or under the authority of the constitution or the laws of this state, are ‘public records’, except as otherwise provided in this Chapter or the Constitution of Louisiana.”
The statute does exempt “any documentary material of a security feature of a public body’s electronic data processing system, information technology system, telecommunications network, or electronic security system, including hardware or software security, password, or security procedure, process, configuration, software, and code.”
“To be ‘public,’ the record must have been used, prepared, possessed, or retained for use in connection with a function performed under authority of the Louisiana Constitution, a state law, or an ordinance, regulation, mandate, or order of a public body,” according to the Public Affairs Research Council (PAR). “This definition covers virtually every kind of record kept by a state or local governmental body,” PAR says.
We thought perhaps we did not meet the criteria to request the records or maybe our request was for the wrong reasons. But, it turns out, we qualify on all counts. “In Louisiana, any person at least 18 years of age may inspect, copy, reproduce, or obtain a copy of any public record. La. R.S. 44:32. The purpose for the document request is immaterial, and an agency or record custodian may not inquire as to the reason,” PAR adds.
To be completely fair, we know these things take time.
We only began our requests in January, after all.
But wait. It turns out that the statute also covers that, or in current parlance, there’s an app for that. If the public record being requested is available, “it must be given to you immediately” and if it is not available, the custodian of the public record “must let you know this in writing.” And if it is not deemed to be a public record, the custodian “must respond within three business days,” according to PAR.
Maybe Jindal’s office simply did not receive our request. But wait! That can’t be because with the first request we submitted, we also asked for the number of state-issued cell phones assigned to the governor’s office and that information was provided.
Well, then, the only other logical explanation for the most transparent, most ethical administration in Louisiana history to not produce the requested records is we waited too long and the records possibly have been shredded or deleted.
Oops. It turns out the statute also covers that contingency. Public records “must be kept for at least three years,” it says.
What to do?
PAR says if five or more business days pass from the time the written records request was made and there is no response, one should contact the Attorney General’s office or the local district attorney, or both. Another option is to retain an attorney and sue the custodian and the public body.
“Custodians (or their public body) who violate the law may have to pay legal fines, damages, and the suing person’s legal fees,” PAR said, adding, “Custodians who violate the law also may be required to serve time in prison.”
Oh, well. Maybe the custodian will be sent to one of the governor’s privatized prisons. No rehabilitation programs. No educational courses. Just lock and feed.
Louisiana Voice 