Jared Daniels
Staff Writer
How easy is it to gain access to Wyoming’s public records?
New amendments were added to Wyoming’s Public Records Act on July 1, 2019. This added new positions into the process for obtaining public records, changes to definition and a new process for complaints regarding problems with receiving access to public records.
Public records, as defined by the Wyoming Legislature, is any physically formed information that was made, obtained or received by a government entity. Exclusions to these records include those that do not reside in a physical form and communication between students of the university or colleges in Wyoming.
“Public records are owned by the public and as such, should be available to the public to examine,” said Ruth Van Mark, the newly appointed Public Records Ombudsman. “There are occasions where public interest is best served by keeping certain records confidential.”
To make a request, or submit an application to obtain public records, they must first find the government agency that this record resides with. In Wyoming there are a total of 448 different agencies to contact and some have the same contact information. In Albany County, there are 11 different agencies with 10 different contacts and range from the Albany County Predator Management District to the University of Wyoming.
“I think there are two issues. [It takes] seven days for a public records custodian to notify applicants if they do not have the record requested, and then 30 days if the record is available to provide the information requested. Secondly, the subjective decision of what is available for public disclosure per the act,” said Van Mark.
Van Mark said in order to fix the problems in the public records system, her office needed to explain the rights and responsibilities of this act to the public and to government entities.
Access to public records are only available during the business hours of the government body they exist to. In Laramie, many of the government agencies either do not work on holidays or have shorter hours, have 8 a.m.-5 p.m. hours and do not work weekends. Some agencies similar to the Municipal Court cannot be contacted to obtain public records on Wednesdays because the offices are closed. An exception can be made by a court ruling or the decision of an employee of the government entity.
Access to some public records also comes with fees which can be waived by the Ombudsman, but she has not waived any yet.
According to the new changes to the Public Records Act, once the application is received, if available, the record should be immediately released. The release of these records can be blocked if the process would impede the government agency.
If the records are not available or another law makes discharging them illegal, a designated person has to inform the applicant as to why within seven business days from the time the government agency acknowledged the request.
If the records are not immediately released then, according to the Wyoming Legislature, they have up to 30 calendar days to release the records. This time limit only exists unless an unspecified good cause exists to not release them. At this point the applicant can file a complaint to the newly appointed Public Records Ombudsman or District Court. These positions will mediate the situation and can give a set date to the records release, yet the court’s ruling is higher than the Ombudsman.
Since Van Mark was appointed Sept. 30 of last year, she has received 15 requests for assistance.
“Six have been actual complaints where the individual had requested information from the custodian of the record but hadn’t received the response they were seeking,” said Van Mark. She later acknowledged only half of the complaints have been resolved to date.
