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

Rep. Terrill makes state employee home addresses available to OPEA

Rep. Randy Terrill quietly opened up the confidential home addresses of state employees to the private employees group that advocates for state workers and to which he belongs, The Oklahoman reported Sunday.

The home addresses, home telephone numbers and Social Security numbers of state employees were exempted from the Open Records Act by state legislators in 1992. The same information for former state employees was exempted in 2003.

But in the closing days of last year's legislative session, The Oklahoman reported, a provision making the home addresses available to the Oklahoma Public Employees Association was tacked onto Terrill's HB 2245, the Oklahoma Criminal Illegal Alien Repatriation Act of 2009.

The OPEA named Terrill, a Republican from Moore, its "Legislator of the Year" for his effort to provide the state employee mailing list, the newspaper noted.

HB 2245 created a separate statute making the home addresses available to any organization that limits membership to state employees and has at least 2,000 members. (OKLA. STAT. tit. 74, § 3119)

Under the statute, the organization "may annually send one general mailing to all state employees." The Office of State Finance must first agree to the "method of providing a list of the names and addresses of the state employees to accomplish the mailing, while preserving the confidentiality of the list."

The Oklahoman reported that since the statute went into effect on June 2, "a spreadsheet of all state workers home addresses has twice been e-mailed to direct mail companies hired by OPEA."

Terrill is the House sponsor of SB 1753, which would exempt the birth dates of government employees from their personnel files.

Terrill recently said the bill likely won't be in its current form when it comes up for a vote in the House.

Watch The Oklahoman's strongly worded video editorial regarding Terrill and the OPEA.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association bill to full House for vote but provides access only to records

The full House will vote on a bill that would give the public access to the records of the non-profit organization that regulates high school sports and other activities such as music, speech and debate competitions in Oklahoma.

Senate Bill 1729, filed by Sen. Charlie Laster, D-Shawnee, would specifically name the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association as a public body subject to the state Open Records Act.

The bill passed the state Senate on March 4 by a 41-0 vote. The House General Government Committee approved the legislation by a 10-0 vote on Tuesday.

In September, OSSAA's former executive secretary pleaded guilty to embezzling $421,500 from the organization. He admitted to taking the money to pay off loans and gambling debts. He did not go to prison.

Shortly afterward, the new executive secretary, Ed Sheakley, said no one had ever submitted a request for OSSAA's records and he was uncertain how such a request would be handled.

In a posting on this blog, Oologah Lake Leader Publisher John M. Wylie II said the embezzlement case made it "abundantly clear that OSSAA must be classified as a public agency."

Unfortunately, SB 1729 does not specifically subject the OSSAA to the state Open Meeting Act as well. And because the bill specifically adds OSSAA to the state Open Records Act, the status of any similar organizations will remain unsettled.

SB 1965, filed originally by Sen. Harry Coates, R-Seminole, would have amended the Open Records and Open Meeting acts to include "any association which coordinates, supervises, and regulates interscholastic activities and contest in which its member schools, including member public schools, pay a fee."

However, that language was replaced with legislation modifying the state's hate crime statutes. Under the new bill, by Sen. Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma City, reports collected during hate crime investigations that do not result in a conviction would be destroyed or kept by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

SB 1729, if passed by the House, would take effect on Nov. 1.

Coverage of the OSSAA issue:

• Legislators want Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association subject to state FOI laws
  
• Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association must be accountable to taxpayers, students
  
• Bill would shed light on records of Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, by Michael McNutt, The Oklahoman, 3.24.10.
  

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

OSU School of Journalism

House sponsor says DOB bill likely will change before vote

State Rep. Randy Terrill says a bill exempting the birth dates of public employees from personnel files likely won't be in its current form when it comes up for a vote in the House, The Oklahoman reports today.

Terrill, a Republican from Moore, told the newspaper 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.

Terrill seems to still be laboring under the impression that releasing the birth date is an invasion of privacy. The information is found in other public records, including voter registration records.

If releasing a birth date is an unwarranted invasion of privacy, why didn't legislators exempt DOBs when they exempted employees' home telephone numbers, home addresses and Social Security numbers in past years?

What about employees' names? Their salaries? Will those be considered unwarranted invasions of privacy?

A week ago, five of the six announced gubernatorial candidates said if they were governor, they would veto SB 1753.

Legislators would better serve public employees if they put an end to this bill and focused instead on solving real problems such as layoffs and unpaid furloughs.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

OSU School of Journalism

Audio of candidates panel at Sunshine Conference available online

Thanks to The Oklahoman, audio of the candidates session at the recent Sunshine Week conference is available online.

Reporter John Estus' recording of the panel discussion is available in two parts at

• http://s3.amazonaws.com/content.newsok.com/audio/conf1.WMA
• http://s3.amazonaws.com/content.newsok.com/audio/conf2.WMA

All six announced gubernatorial candidates and the announced Democratic candidate for attorney general participated in the panel at Oklahoma Sunshine ’10: Privacy, Politicians & the Public’s Need to Know, which was held at The Oklahoman on March 13.

The conference's afternoon session featured a question-and-answer session with the candidates. Each candidate was afforded three minutes to initially state his or her position on open government and any proposals regarding government transparency and the state’s open meeting and records laws.

Questions included whether to veto pending legislation exempting birth dates of public employees from government personnel files and whether the state Legislature should be exempted from the state's Open Records and Open Meeting laws.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

OSU School of Journalism

Democratic candidate for attorney general signs Open Government Pledge

The only announced Democratic candidate for attorney general has pledged “to support at every opportunity" the inherent right of Oklahomans "to know and be fully informed about their government."

Jim Priest also promised that the attorney general's office would "comply with not only the letter but also the spirit of Oklahoma's Open Meeting and Open Records laws” if he is elected.

Ryan Leonard, an announced Republican candidate for the attorney general's office, signed FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s Open Government Pledge in January.

Priest has practiced law for 30 years and is an ordained deacon in the Church of the Nazarene.

On Saturday, Priest said he would continue current Attorney General Drew Edmondson’s open meeting and records seminars across the state. (Edmondson, a Democrat, is running for governor, not re-election as attorney general.)

Priest also said he would work to strengthen Oklahoma's laws to limit Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. So-called SLAPPs are "retaliatory lawsuits intended to silence, intimidate, or punish those who have used public forums to speak, petition, or otherwise move for government action on an issue." (West's Encyclopedia of American Law)

Oklahoma students also should receive more education on open government, Priest told FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s third-annual Sunshine Week conference.

Freedom of Information Oklahoma Inc. invites other candidates for statewide offices and those running for legislative seats to sign the pledge.

Instructions and a list of signers for the 2010 elections can be found on FOI Oklahoma’s Web site.

FOI Oklahoma began the Open Government Pledge in spring 2008 as part of the national Sunshine Week effort to spur public commitments to government transparency from candidates for president down to city council contests.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

OSU School of Journalism

Third Republican gubernatorial candidate signs Open Government Pledge

Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert Hubbard has promised that if elected, he would ensure that the governor's office and state agencies would "comply with not only the letter but also the spirit of Oklahoma's Open Meeting and Open Records laws.”

Hubbard 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.”

Hubbard is the fifth announced candidate for governor to sign FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s Open Government Pledge. The others are Democratic candidates Lt. Gov. Jari Askins and state Attorney General Drew Edmondson and Republicans Congresswoman Mary Fallin and Roger L. Jackson, a retired Oklahoma City businessman.

Hubbard owns Hubbard Ranch Supply in Piedmont and has worked in the horse industry for 30 years. Last year, he spoke to legislators on behalf of equine dentists in the state.

Last Saturday, Hubbard said public officials not complying with the state's Open Meeting and Open Records laws should be arrested.

"My philosophy is if you have a right to [a public record], you get it,” he told FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s third-annual Sunshine Week conference.

Freedom of Information Oklahoma Inc. invites other candidates for statewide offices and those running for legislative seats, municipal offices and school board seats to sign the pledge.

Instructions and a list of signers for the 2010 elections can be found on FOI Oklahoma’s Web site.

FOI Oklahoma began the Open Government Pledge in spring 2008 as part of the national Sunshine Week effort to spur public commitments to government transparency from candidates for president down to city council contests.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

OSU School of Journalism