House speaker denies media requests for video of portraits being moved; Guthrie rep. plans bill to add Legislature to Sunshine Laws

House Speaker Chris Benge this week denied media requests for video footage showing portraits of Gov. Brad Henry and President Barack Obama being switched.

Benge first denied a request from KTOK-AM, reported FOX 25 on Wednesday.

The Oklahoman reports today that Benge has also denied the newspaper's request.

The Oklahoman requested surveillance camera footage focused on the back wall of the House from Feb. 15 to March 12 because House Democratic leaders say Obama's portrait has been moved more than the one time admitted to by Rep. Lewis Moore, R-Arcadia, earlier this week.

House Democratic leaders called on Benge, a Tulsa Republican, to release the video, the newspaper reported.

Benge said he wouldn't release the video because disclosure would lead to "further embarrassment of the House" and "further ridicule a House member."

Embarrassment of an elected official isn't an exemption under the state Open Records Act. If it were, plenty of local and other state officials would claim it.

Unfortunately, as has been noted several times this week here and by other media, legislators exempted themselves from the state Open Records and Open Meeting laws when those statutes were enacted decades ago.

What's good for the goose isn't good for the gander when it comes to public scrutiny of the Legislature.

However, Rep. Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie, told The Oklahoman that he will introduce a bill next year to remove the Legislature's exemption from the Open Meeting and Open Records acts. (Murphey signed FOI Oklahoma's Open Government Pledge in 2008.)

Last Saturday, all six announced gubernatorial candidates said they support removing the exemption.

Perhaps that will happen during next year's legislative session. Or, at the very least, we would get to see which legislators truly believe in the Open Records Act's founding principle:

It is the public policy of the State of Oklahoma that the people are are vested with the inherent right to know and be fully informed about their government. (OKLA. STAT. tit. 51, § 24A.2)

That should include the Legislature.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

OSU School of Journalism

AG recommends state employee identification numbers be kept confidential because of security concerns, leads to change in network security procedures

State employee identification numbers should be kept confidential because disclosure could expose the state's payroll system to hacking, the Attorney General's Office said this week.

But the assistant attorney general's letter detailing how hackers could use the information to enter the system led to the Office of State Finance changing the password system, The Oklahoman reported today.

Network security systems should rely on passwords and the number of times someone can try to log on before being locked out, said a data privacy expert who was the keynote speaker for FOI Oklahoma's third-annual Sunshine Week conference on Saturday.

The more unique identifiers, the better the system, said Richard J.H. Varn, chief information officer for the city of San Antonio and executive director of the Coalition for Sensible Public Records Access.

The Oklahoma Public Employees Association, which opposes release of employee birth dates, posted the assistant attorney general's letter to its Web site on Tuesday.

The OPEA quickly equated the employee identification numbers with birth dates, calling them private information.

The Oklahoman, however, pointed out that it had requested dates of birth and employee identification numbers of state employees as part of an ongoing look into the backgrounds of public workers. Public access to the employee identification numbers is the only way to track employees who have changed their names after marriage.

Another speaker for the Sunshine Week conference said Texas has provided him with the employee identification numbers for that state.

"I know of no government body anywhere that has denied access to unique identifiers because of this pathetic excuse. This is a very basic piece of information," said Ryan McNeill, computer-assisted reporting editor for the Dallas Morning News.

Strengthening Oklahoma's payroll system's security procedures would seem to negate the reason for denying access to the employee identification numbers. The attorney general's office should reconsider its recommendation accordingly.


Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism

All 6 gubernatorial candidates: State Legislature should not exempt itself from Open Records Act

The Oklahoma Legislature should be subject to the state's Open Records Act just like the rest of government, the six announced gubernatorial candidates said on Saturday.

Live online audio and video feeds of the House and Senate in session are nothing more than "great window dressing," said Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, a Democratic candidate and former state legislator.

"We will all be better served (with) transparency when the House and the Senate open up the rest of their records and remove their exemption,” Askins told the audience at FOI Oklahoma's third-annual Sunshine Week conference.

The other gubernatorial candidates in agreement were fellow Democrat Drew Edmondson and Republicans state Sen. Randy Brogdon, Congresswoman Mary Fallin, Robert Hubbard and Roger L. Jackson.

Only nine other state legislatures completely exempt themselves from their state open records laws, The Oklahoman reported today.

Oklahoma legislators exempted themselves when the statute was first enacted in 1985.

That means Oklahoman can't see their lawmakers’ e-mails, letters, drafts of bills, memorandums, calendars, phone call logs and other records that might show how those entrusted with the public’s business are doing their jobs, reporter John Estus pointed out.

Current legislative leaders' reasoning for continuing the exemption were galling.

"Protection of the Legislature’s records is vital to the independent functioning of the legislative branch,” a spokesman for Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, said in a statement. "Subjecting the Legislature to open records requirements would chill the flow of communications within and from outside the Capitol."

House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, echoed Coffee’s position in a separate statement, Estus reported.

According to Benge and Coffee, what's good for the goose isn't good for the gander. Other legislative bodies -- such as city councils and county commissions -- should operate with public scrutiny but not so for our state Legislature.

Perhaps our legislative leaders don't know that "As the Oklahoma Constitution recognizes and guarantees, all political power is inherent in the people."

"Thus, it is the public policy of the State of Oklahoma that the people are are vested with the inherent right to know and be fully informed about their government," states the Open Records Act's preamble.

"The purpose of this act is to ensure and facilitate the public's right of access to and review of government records so they may efficiently and intelligently exercise their inherent political power." (OKLA. STAT. tit. 51, § 24A.2)

These principles are true whether the public body is a city council or the state Legislature.

Other coverage on the issue:

• Hopefuls call for exemption's end, The Oklahoman, 3.14.10.


• OETA reporter Lori Rasmussen talked to government leaders about the exemption of the state legislature from requirements of the state Open Meeting and Open Records Acts. Also discussion with Mark Thomas of the Oklahoma Press Association about openness in government. (Click on ONR 03-16-10)

Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism

5 gubernatorial candidates would veto bill exempting birth dates of public employees; Edmondson says he would sign legislation

Five of the six announced gubernatorial candidates said on Saturday that if they were governor, they would veto legislation exempting public employees birth dates from the state Open Records Act.

Only Attorney General Drew Edmondson, a Democratic candidate, said he would sign the bill.

The Legislature is entitled under the Open Records Act to decide which information in the personnel files of public employees would be considered "an unwarranted invasion of privacy," Edmondson told the audience at FOI Oklahoma's third-annual Sunshine Week conference.

Edmondson said that did not mean he would concede his veto power each time legislators write an exemption to the state Open Records Act.

State Sen. Randy Brogdon, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, said he would veto SB 1753, which would exempt public employee birth dates from personnel files.

When asked how he had voted when the bill came before the full Senate on Feb. 18, Brogdon said he didn't know.

Brogdon voted for the bill when it passed the Senate by 44-0 vote with no debate on the floor.

After being told how he voted, Brogdon said, "I am not in favor of hiding information so the final product as it comes out I will certainly vote accordingly."

Also saying they would veto the legislation were Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, a Democrat, and Republican candidates Congresswoman Mary Fallin, Robert Hubbard and Roger L. Jackson.
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The conference was the first time all six announced gubernatorial candidates had attended the same event to speak on a topic.

In the morning sessions, experts on privacy emphasized that birth dates in public records do not pose a threat of identity theft.

In December, Edmondson issued a formal written opinion stating that government employee birth dates are presumed open unless the public body can demonstrate that the employee’s privacy outweighs the public’s interest in disclosure.

In August, Edmondson said publicly that officials should err on the side of transparency regarding the release of dates of birth of employees. Edmondson said it’s difficult to contend that birth dates are private when they are found in a number of public records. He has since disclosed the birth dates of his own employees.

Edmondson has signed FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s Open Government Pledge promising "to support at every opportunity the public policy of the State of Oklahoma that the people are vested with the inherent right to know and be fully informed about their government so that they can efficiently and intelligently exercise their inherent political power.”

Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism

Tulsa County budget officials vote to require written requests of themselves for public records

The Tulsa County Budget Board voted 6-1 on Monday to require its members to complete a public records request form when they request information related to their meetings, the Tulsa World reported today.

The dissenting vote came from Tulsa County Assessor Ken Yazel, who had refused to fill out the form to obtain from the County Clerk's Office an audio recording of the board's February meeting.

So why did County Clerk Earlene Wilson want her fellow elected officials on the board to use the form?

"We want to make sure we provide these records as requested in a timely fashion," she said. "This would (help) solve our problem."

Yazel worries that filling out the form and giving it to the clerk will just slow the public's business.

Previously, all it took was a phone call or e-mail to receive a document, Yazel said.

Requiring public officials to file a written request to obtain records related to their own meetings and public bodies seems counter-intuitive at best and obstructionist at worst.

Those written requests will be public records. That could make for some interesting stories on which documents Tulsa County officials request from each.


Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism

Does the FTC's 'red flags rule' override the Oklahoma Open Records Act?

(Question raised today at open records training for municipal clerks and treasurers.)

No. The rule does not keep confidential any information made public by the state Open Records Act.

"The Red Flags Rule requires many businesses and organizations to implement a written Identity Theft Prevention Program designed to detect the warning signs or 'red flags' of identity theft in their day-to-day operations," explains the Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC issued the Red Flags Rule as part of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act of 2003.

Even though municipal utilities are not financial institutions, they can be subject to the Red Flags Rule. The FTC says a "creditor" is any "businesses or organizations that regularly provide goods or services first and allow customers to pay later."

"For example, cities that operate utilities that regularly bill customers after they've received services....," explains the FTC.

Red flag does not mean information that should not be disclosed to the public. This term is used to describe the warning signs of patterns, practices or specific activities that indicate the possible existence of identity theft.

The Oklahoma Municipal League has told municipal attorneys:

Nothing in the Red Flag Rule or FACTA itself requires confidentiality of data, i.e., personal identifying information, in an account. Nothing in these federal mandates absolves your client from complying with state and local requirements pertaining to disclosure of public records.

It added:

How does the Red Flag Rule interact with local Sunshine Laws?

Not all data requests will trigger the Red Flag Rule, which only applies to personal identifying information in a 'covered account.' Therefore, it will be necessary for your client to consider an Open Records Assessment:

• What records made open to the public under a sunshine law are also data in a 'covered account'?
• What open records requests will constitute a 'red flag'?
• How will your client respond to such a red flag?
• Does your client really need all the 'personal identifying information' it collects?

The OML is not saying that open records requests can be denied because of the Red Flags Rule. It is saying that a records request could raise a red flag indicating the possibility of identity theft.

In a 2008 training document, the OML told municipalities:

The Oklahoma Open Records Act still creates duties to make most of your records open.

Your records will include much 'personal identifying information' that you will have to provide to any person requesting the record without inquiring why the requester wants the record or what the person will do with the information. 


What about Open Policy Act – does personal information not apply?

Answer: Nothing in the Red Flag Rule changes your duty to provide personal information contained in a record to a person who requests it. The Open Records Act itself has some exemptions but most personal information will be open. You will need to consider what kind of 'red flag' – risk of identity theft – might arise when you have to provide the information. 


What records must be made available to the public?

Answer: All records regardless of physical form or characteristic must be available to the public unless the Open Records Act itself provides an exception. Please note that the Open Records Act states that, if any other law requires a record to be confidential, it will be confidential for purposes of the Act. 


Are the Social Security Number and other personal information from job applicants, open records?
Our council voted to make application of persons not hired to be open record. Would the Social Security Number be open or blacked out? It states on the paper in our handouts that it is open record?

Answer: The Open Records Act allows you to keep confidential the applications of job applicants who are not hired. This would include all information in the job application.

If your council has decided to open up these records without creating exceptions for some personal information, all information on the records will be open unless some other exception to openness applies to some of the data.

There is no blanket protection in the Open Records Act for social security numbers.

The Act only protects the numbers of present or former employees and utility customers. 


Name removed from Record that must be opened. Not placed in list of what may be confidential? Open Records Act is now silent?

Answer: Effective November 1st, an amendment to the Open Records Act removes the requirement that the name of your utility customer does not have to be made public.

Unfortunately, another part of the statute listing the information about utility customers that may be kept confidential was not amended to add the name of the customer. The section pertaining to utility customers is now silent. You should ask your city attorney for advice on the confidentiality of names of utility customers. 


When a person calls and 'says' they are with Recovery Systems and looking for a customer and wants their physical address and says according to the 'Freedom Act' we must give out that information what should we do?

Answer: The Open Records Act does not require you to give information on the telephone but it does require you to make your records available to any person who requests to inspect them. Therefore, you may provide the same information on the telephone if that is your municipality’s policy.

The FTC itself states, “The Rule doesn’t require any specific practice or procedures.”

The FTC’s FAQs on the regulation indicate that it is not intended to override state open records laws.

How do my obligations under other laws affect the implementation of my Identity Theft Prevention Program?

Your Program under the Red Flags Rule should be consistent with other relevant legal, professional, and ethical obligations.

The FTC’s site on the Red Flags Rule does not mention keeping confidential information required to be public under individual states’ open records laws.

The FTC has delayed implementation of the regulation until June 1.


Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism

Open government awards go to Tulsa World, OKC public information director; OKC attorney, Oklahoma County district attorney garner Black Hole Award

The Tulsa World and Kristy Yager of the city of Oklahoma City were named winners Saturday of FOI Oklahoma awards for their commitment to freedom of information and openness in government.

The organization’s Black Hole Award for thwarting the free flow of information went to Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater and the Oklahoma City city attorney’s office.

The third-annual awards were presented during Oklahoma Sunshine `10 conference: Privacy, Politicians & the Public’s Need to Know. The conference was in conjunction with national Sunshine Week activities celebrating and promoting the public's right to know.

The World received the Ben Blackstock Award for its nearly decade-long effort to gain access to computerized records withheld by the Department of Public Safety. The award goes to a non-governmental person or organization.

The newspaper filed suit in 2001 after then-Commissioner Bob Ricks rejected almost an entire open records request for computerized and paper records on the Oklahoma Highway Patrol’s use of force, traffic stops and searches and agency procedures.

The World sought the records to review the agency’s treatment of minorities who were stopped and searched, among other issues.

After court rulings, the World resolved issues with the agency in 2008 and 2009. The DPS recently paid a substantial portion of the legal fees the World incurred.

"We commend the Tulsa World for being a leader in open records and open meetings issues in this state,’’ said Dick Pryor, president of FOI Oklahoma.

"The World has a strong and significant tradition of protecting the public’s right to know," said Pryor, deputy director and managing editor of OETA, the Oklahoma Network.

An honorable mention went to Chris Tharp, who hired an attorney to compel the Broken Arrow school district to release information contained in detailed legal bills. (Read related blog postings.)

An honorable mention also went to Carol Austin of Vinita who used the state’s Open Records Act to reveal information about Vinita city government. (Read related Tulsa World story.)

Yager won the Sunshine Award for consistently working to provide useful information to the public. The award is presented to a governmental organization or individual who has shown a commitment to freedom of information.

As public information director for Oklahoma City, Yager has worked with local media in redesigning the city's Web site to make it easier to find information.

Live streaming video is available of city council meetings and even some community meetings. Video of the council meetings are linked to the agenda. By clicking on an agenda item, the video goes straight to the discussion of that item.

A reporter who nominated Yager said she and her staff "seem to understand their role is to provide the public with honest and accurate information and let the chips fall where they may, rather than constantly controlling the message with an iron fist.’"

For the Black Hole Award, FOI Oklahoma cited the refusal of the city attorney and Prater to release employee birth dates even after an attorney general’s opinion said the information was presumed open.

Without a birth date, it is impossible to distinguish between people who might have common names.

Prater called a request for such information by The Oklahoman "clearly an unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy’" of county employees.

He refused to explain why releasing birth dates would be an invasion of privacy and did not address the public’s interest in checking names and birth dates of county employees against databases of criminal records, political contributions and other information the public might want to know about its employees.

Prater told a reporter that he was not concerned about any confusion his decision might cause. (Read related blog posting.)

The next week, Assistant City Attorney Richard Smith told the newspaper that disclosure of city employee birth dates would not "assist citizens in the exercise of" their inherent political power. He said the reporter would have to request the birth date for each employee individually and explain its "specific concern in relation to that employee." (Read related blog posting.)

Meanwhile, Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr. honored the attorney general opinion and ordered employee birth dates released with the city’s payroll data as it has done for several years.

FOI Oklahoma is a statewide organization that actively works to promote the right of access by the public.

Other coverage of the awards:

• Tulsa World receives nod for freedom fight


• Oklahoma group roasts local lawyers over records