Will Gov. Fallin fulfill candidate Fallin's open government promises?

As a gubernatorial candidate, Mary Fallin pledged that she and the public bodies she would be elected to govern would "comply with not only the letter but also the spirit of Oklahoma’s Open Meeting and Open Records laws."

She also would hire someone to ensure our state open government laws are enforced, Fallin told FOI Oklahoma's Sunshine Week conference in March.

"As governor, one of the things I will do is to be very forthright in making sure that we enforce our Open Meeting Act and our Open Records Act, and I do think it's important that a governor have someone dedicated full time to making sure enforcement is carried forth," she said.

A model for such a position in the governor's office can be found in Florida. The Office of Open Government was created by Republican Gov. Charlie Crist in 2007 and reaffirmed by new Republican Gov. Rick Scott on his first day in office last week.

Under Scott's executive order, the Office of Open Government will:

• "Facilitate Floridians' right to know and have access to information with which they can hold government accountable;
• Continue to assure full and expeditious compliance with Florida's open government and open records laws; and
• Provide training to all executive agencies under my purview on transparency and accountability."

The Office of Open Government also has "primary responsibility for ensuring that the Office of the Governor complies with public records requests in an expeditious manner."

Republican Fallin said she expects government information to be released "in a timely manner and that information is not withheld intentionally just to forestall the public's right to know."

Fallin also said that as governor, she would:

• Veto legislation exempting public employees birth dates from the state Open Records Act;
• Expect her appointees to public bodies to abide by the Open Meeting and Open Records laws; and
• Support eliminating the state Legislature's exemption from the Open Records and Open Meeting laws.

Fallin signed FOI Oklahoma's Open Government Pledge in which she endorsed "the purpose of Oklahoma’s Open Meeting and Open Records laws to ensure and facilitate the public’s understanding of governmental processes and problems."

She also pledged "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."

Now that Fallin is governor, will she live up to those promises?

Do you believe she will?


Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Media & Strategic Communications

Newspaper asks judge to lift order stopping release of state workers' birth dates; database editor shows DOBs, personal info readily available on Web

The Oklahoman on Thursday asked a judge to lift a temporary restraining order preventing the release of government workers' dates of birth and to order the state to provide the information.

Oklahoma County Judge Bryan Dixon in early April granted the order sought by the Oklahoma Public Employees Association and the Oklahoma State Troopers Association.

(See CJ-2010-2623, Oklahoma Public Employees Association v. Oklahoma Office of Personnel Management)

OPEA officials have argued that release of the information poses a serious threat of identity theft despite contradictory opinions from privacy experts and the OPEA's inability to provide examples of public records being used to commit identity theft.

In the newspaper's request for a summary judgment, The Oklahoman noted that various government agencies have provided it with birth dates of public employees for the past 10 years.

An attorney general opinion in December said 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 support of the trooper association's request to join OPEA as a plaintiff was an affidavit by Russell Knoke, second vice president of the Oklahoma State Troopers Association, expressing concerns that releasing birth dates could endanger the lives of troopers and their families.

At an April press conference, Knoke said:

Our biggest concern is family and personal safety, the threat represented by an aggrieved member of the public one of our trooper’s may have dealt with in the past. To simply dump all troopers’ birth dates out there without regard to their personal safety is not acceptable.

Knoke seems unaware that the information is already available to the entire world -- a point made clear in The Oklahoman's evidence supporting a summary judgment.

In less than five minutes on the Internet, database editor Paul Monies found Knoke's DOB, home address, home phone number and other personal information.

On the Oklahoma State Troopers Association website, for example, Monies learned:

Russell graduated from the 39th academy in 1982. The areas in which he has worked include, Troop L Rogers County, Inola, and Troop L Rogers County, Catoosa. He currently is assigned to Troop S out of Sallisaw in Sequoyah County.

He graduated from Sallisaw High School and from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s of science degree.

Russell is married to his wife, Debbie, and has two sons, Tyler and Max.

On the AnyWho site, Monies found Knoke's home address and phone number.

Monies learned Knoke's birth date from birthdetails.com.

Monies verified the information by using Knoke's voter registration records maintained by the Oklahoma State Election Board.

Point to Monies (a fellow member of the FOI Oklahoma board of directors) and The Oklahoman.

In addition to FOI Oklahoma and the Tulsa World, the amici supporting public disclosure of the DOBs are KWTV, KOTV, KFOR, KOCO, KOKH, KJRH, KTUL, Oklahoma Press Association, Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Radio Television Digital News Association, Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

OSU School of Media and Strategic Communication

All 3 AG candidates say government workers' birth dates should be public; 2 support keeping autopsy records open

All three announced candidates for state attorney general say the birth dates of government employees should be a matter of public record, The Norman Transcript noted in an editorial today.

Republican candidates Ryan Leonard and Scott Pruitt also said they support keeping autopsy records open. Democratic candidate Jim Priest took a neutral stance, saying he needs to study the issue.

The candidates spoke Saturday at the Oklahoma Press Association's Summer Conference.

Priest and Leonard have signed FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s Open Government Pledge. In doing so, each promised “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.”

Hopefully, Priest will keep that promise in mind as he studies the issue of public access to autopsy records.

This blog noted in April that the press and public have used autopsy reports elsewhere to uncover incompetency and corruption by police, medical examiners and coroners.

A state bill that would have restricted access to portions of homicide autopsy reports was pulled in May because of stiff opposition on the House floor. Among the representatives critical of the bill were Rep. Lucky Lamons, D-Tulsa, and Rep. David Dank, R-Oklahoma City. Both legislators had signed FOI Oklahoma's Open Government Pledge during their most recent campaigns.

Leonard, Priest and Pruitt are seeking to replace Democrat Drew Edmondson, who is running for governor.

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

Edmondson said public bodies must decide each case individually and may not enact policies blocking access to all employee dates of birth. (2009 OK AG 33)

Sen. Debbe Leftwich, D-Oklahoma City, had requested the opinion. Legislative attempts by Leftwich and Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, failed to close public access to the birth dates.

The issue is now before a court. In April, Oklahoma County Judge Bryan Dixon granted a temporary restraining order stopping the release of state workers' birth dates to The Oklahoman.

The judge also allowed The Oklahoman to intervene as a defendant and FOI Oklahoma, Tulsa World, KWTV, KOTV, the Oklahoma Press Association and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to file briefs in support of the public's right to the information.

Dixon also granted requests by the Oklahoma State Troopers Association and the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety to join with the Oklahoma Public Employees Association in seeking the order against the state Office of Personnel Management.

(CJ-2010-2623, Oklahoma Public Employees Association v. Oklahoma Office of Personnel Management)

The next scheduled court date is Friday.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

OSU School of Journalism

Lamons amendment would undo Terrill 'compromise' on birth date bill, subject Legislature to Open Records Act

A bill to close public access to the birth dates of government workers would become a bill requiring the state Legislature to follow the Open Records Act, under an amendment filed Wednesday morning by Rep. Lucky Lamons.

The Tulsa Democrat's amendment to SB 1753 might keep the DOB bill from coming to a vote of the full House because representatives likely don't want to decide if they should be subject to the records statute, said Mark Thomas of the Oklahoma Press Association.

Thomas warned though that Rep. Randy Terrill and the Oklahoma Public Employees Association might try to close access to the personnel information by inserting their language into another bill.

Late Monday, Terrill filed a "compromise" amendment that would end public access to the birth dates found in the personnel files of government employees. (Read blog posting on Terrill's amendment.)

House members were expected to vote either today or Thursday on that amendment.

But Lamons filed an amendment that would strip Terrill's proposed language and instead require legislators to abide by the state Open Records Act.

Lamons is one of 12 House members who signed FOI Oklahoma's Open Government Pledge.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

OSU School of Journalism

Rep. Watson lives up to open government pledge by voting against bill exempting birth dates of public employees

Rep. Weldon Watson, R-Tulsa, was one of two House committee members to stand up for the public's right and need to know on Thursday.

Watson was joined by Rep. Jeffrey Hickman, R-Docoma, in voting against Senate Bill 1753, which would cut off public access to government employees' birth dates in personnel files.

Hickman pointed out that there is no documented case of anyone being harmed by the birth dates being accessible under the Open Records Act and that public employees are paid by taxpayers, The Oklahoman reported.

The bill passed the House Appropriations and Budget Committee by a 12-2 vote.

However, Rep. Randy Terrill, House author of the bill and a member of the committee, again said he plans to insert compromise language into the legislation, The Oklahoman reported.

What that compromise could be was not explained.

In March, Terrill said the bill won't be in its current form when it comes up for a vote by the full House. A date for that vote hasn't been set.

Last month, Terrill, a Republican from Moore, told The Oklahoman he wants to come up with a process that outlines how and under what circumstances birth dates of public workers should be released. He said he wants the process to protect workers’ privacy while maintaining the public’s right to know about who is working for their government.

That doesn't sound any more promising for the public's right to know than the current process of balancing the public interest in disclosure and determining whether disclosure would constitute an "unwarranted invasion" of each employee's privacy.

Besides Terrill, also voting for the bill on Thursday were:

• John Auffet, D-Stilwell
• John Carey, D-Durant
• Lee Denney, R-Cushing
• Dale DeWitt, R-Braman
• Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs
• Larry Glenn, D-Miami
• Chuck Hoskin, D-Vinita
• Guy Liebmann, R-Oklahoma City
• Scott Martin, R-Norman
• Ken Miller, R-Edmond
• Danny Morgan, D-Prague

Watson is one of 12 House members who signed FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s Open Government Pledge while campaigning for office since 2008.

By signing the pledge, the House members promised “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.”

The other pledge signers in the House are:

• Dank, David, R-Oklahoma City
• Collins, Wallace, D-Norman
• Lamons, Lucky, D-Tulsa
• McDaniel, Jeannie, D-Tulsa
• McDaniel, Randy, R-Edmond
• Murphey, Jason W., R-Guthrie
• Nations, Bill, D-Norman
• Russ, Todd, R-Cordell
• Sanders, Mike, R-Kingfisher
• Scott, Seneca, D-Tulsa
• Wright, Harold, R-Weatherford

We hope they will follow Watson's example of living up to the pledge if SB 1753 comes before the full House for a vote.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

OSU School of Journalism

State makes millions by selling personal information, but state legislators want DOBs of public employees kept secret

The state of Oklahoma makes tens of millions of dollars selling personal information about its residents, The Oklahoman and Tulsa World reported Sunday.

In a joint investigation, the newspapers reported that for example, the state made at least $65 million in the past five years from the sale of millions of motor vehicle records that include birth dates and other personal information of all state drivers.

The Oklahoman's editor pointed out in strongly worded editorial that while "the state is reaping millions of dollars from the sale of this information," Rep. Randy Terrill and Sen. Debbe Leftwich are pushing to exempt the birth dates of public employees from government personnel files.

Editor Ed Kelley also noted that Terrill used a list of registered voters for his 2004 campaign. Voter registration records include birth dates.

Keeping birth dates secret won't help protect workers' identities or safety because the information already is available elsewhere, the keynote speaker for FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s recent Sunshine Week conference told the newspapers.

"What I would tell them is stop trying to shut the barn door after the horses are gone," 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. "It's a lack of understanding by policy makers to what an effective countermeasure is to identity theft."

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

OSU School of Journalism

State troopers ask to join OPEA lawsuit; Judge recuses herself

The Oklahoma Troopers Association wants to join with a state employees association in asking a judge to stop the state government from releasing basic personnel information on state workers.

The Troopers Association today filed a motion to intervene as a plaintiff in the Oklahoma Public Employees Association's request for the injunction.

CJ-2010-2623, Oklahoma Public Employees Association v. Oklahoma Office of Personnel Management

Judge Noma D. Gurich recused herself from the case today. She is married to John E. Miley, deputy general counsel for the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.

The case has been transferred to Oklahoma County Judge Bryan Dixon.

The hearing has been reset for April 9.

The Oklahoman filed a motion Thursday to intervene as a defendant.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

OSU School of Journalism

OPEA asks judge to stop state from providing newspaper with information on state employees

A state employees group today asked an Oklahoma County judge to stop the state government from providing The Oklahoman with the birth dates and other basic personnel information on state workers.

A hearing on the injunction requested by the Oklahoma Public Employees Association has been set for April 7 before Judge Noma D. Gurich. (CJ-2010-2623, Oklahoma Public Employees Association v. Oklahoma Office of Personnel Management)

(Read the filing.)

On its Web site, OPEA said, "A person’s date of birth is the missing piece in the identity puzzle if someone is trying to commit fraud or harm an individual."

However, national experts on data privacy have repeatedly said a birth date alone is not sufficient information to steal a person's identity and that public records are not a source of data for identity thieves.

In February, The Oklahoman requested basic employee information, including dates of birth, payroll records and employee identification numbers, for all state employees.

A number of local government agencies have long provided the birth dates of their employees to media outlets with no reported instances of identity thefts caused by the disclosure. Birth dates are also available in voter registration files and in many other public records.

State law already exempts state workers' home addresses, home telephone numbers and Social Security numbers. Last legislative session, however, state Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, opened up the home addresses for OPEA's use, The Oklahoman reported Sunday. (Read related blog.)

Read coverage of OPEA's filing: State worker group seeks to block release of records, by Paul Monies, The Oklahoman, 3.30.10.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

OSU School of Journalism