Survey finds N.M. residents often denied access to government records
By The Associated Press
12.11.00
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County, city, court and school officials routinely violate state law
by failing to release public records such as budgets, public employees'
salaries and reports of crimes and court cases, a statewide survey by New
Mexico newspapers found.
Three of every 10 requests for access to records were unsuccessful in
a check of 210 government offices in all 33 New Mexico counties.
Member newspapers of the New Mexico Press Association and the
Associated Press along with the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government
sponsored the freedom-of-information audit. The goal was to determine whether
records are readily available to the general public.
"When requests for public records are denied about a third or more of
the time, it's obvious that some public officials are either ignorant of the
public's rights and their own duties, or arrogant about doing their jobs," said
Bob Johnson, executive director of the Foundation for Open Government.
New Mexico's Inspection of Public Records Act casts a wide net in
defining public records. The law covers written documents and letters, tapes,
photographs and records stored in computers or transmitted by e-mail.
"All persons are entitled to the greatest possible information
regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of public officers
and employees," state law declares as public policy.
To measure the gap between what the law says and how it is applied by
public employees, newspaper representatives made oral and written requests for
records with agencies across New Mexico from mid-July through early
November.
The survey found:
County and city law enforcement agencies were the worst in
making records available to the public. Requests failed in 13 of 31 sheriff's
departments (42%) and 11 of 32 police departments (34%).
Twelve of 34 magistrate courts (35%) failed to provide
records.
Five of 27 county administrative offices (19%) and seven of 32
city administrative offices (22%) didn't provide requested documents.
Twelve of 44 public school districts (27%) and one of 10
colleges and universities (10%) failed to provide records.
Even when agencies did release records, their compliance
frequently was less than complete. Overall, agencies provided at least some
records in 149, or 71%, of requests. But on average, one in five of those
disclosures lacked some requested information or document.
In failing to provide the requested records, some agencies maintained
that the information was confidential. In other instances, supervisors were
unavailable to give permission to employees to provide documents. Some workers
said they were too busy. Agencies also failed to meet the law's timetable for
turning over materials; some never responded to written requests.
Public records can serve as a tool for people to find out more about
their communities as well as monitor the performance of government.
A parent can explore the finances of a local school or a would-be
homeowner might research neighborhood safety using crime records.
Citizens are entitled to know how much a school superintendent or
principal is paid or amounts the school district spends yearly. The public can
look at misdemeanor and traffic offenses filed in magistrate courts and find
out how the cases were resolved — with fines or jail time.
The New Mexico survey found that in most cases information was handed
over upon written or oral requests — although it could be a test of
patience and perseverance for the person seeking the records.
State law declares, "No person requesting records shall be required to
state the reason for inspecting the records." But individuals were asked for
their names and why they wanted records in two of every five requests in the
survey.
In one out of seven requests, people had to quote or show state law
before gaining access to records.
Confronted with requests for access to documents, government workers
often displayed a lack of knowledge about the law or an attitude of secrecy
about records related to public business and maintained at taxpayer
expense.
"We don't show our records to anyone," an employee in the Eddy County
Sheriff's Department replied when initially asked for the daily crime log. It
was later provided, however. The person seeking the records was taken into a
room by two employees and asked about his profession and why he wanted the
crime records. Some form of identification also was demanded before he could
look at a crime incident report.
The Moriarty school district superintendent asked police to check the
car license plate of an individual who submitted a request for financial
records.
A Clovis police sergeant acknowledged that a crime log was a public
record but refused to provide access unless the person gave a reason for
wanting to look at it. No copies were allowed, the policeman said, because the
person might go on a "fishing expedition" with the information.
Occasionally, records requests met with cooperation from helpful
public employees.
The magistrate court clerk in Taos demonstrated how to access records
through an office computer, explained the court's procedure for logging cases
and said it was no bother to provide the help because "all of our records are
public information."
The New Mexico records survey was similar to ones conducted in more
than a dozen states in the past several years. Indiana's open-records law was
revamped in 1999 in response to problems documented by an audit of government
agencies.
Johnson said results of the New Mexico survey were similar to those in
other states.
"This shows that New Mexico government agencies are no worse but
certainly no better than in other states," he said.
The survey covered basic public records. Sheriff's department and
police were asked for a daily log of crimes and an "incident report" of a
crime. Counties, cities and schools were asked for financial information, such
as agency budgets and salaries and expenses of administrators. Magistrate
courts were asked for a one-month listing of complaints filed by law
enforcement and the disposition of the cases.
Some auditors were reporters, others were citizens asked by a
newspaper to participate. They completed standardized reports of each audit,
including narratives of their experiences. The participants — to help
ensure neutral treatment by agencies — were instructed not to identify
their employers or describe themselves as part of a survey testing the state's
open-records law.
Certain records remain confidential under state law, including letters
of reference for jobs or certain medical treatment records and police records
revealing confidential sources or people accused but not charged with a
crime.
Despite those exceptions, state law makes clear that anyone — a
local resident or a total stranger — has a right to review a basic police
incident report about a burglary and arrest of a suspect or a "police blotter"
of recent crimes.
News organizations sometimes can get immediate access to records,
particularly when reporters regularly cover a government office and know the
agency's workers. However, members of the public may find it harder because
they are unfamiliar to government employees who are custodians of the
records.
People denied access to records can call the attorney general or a
local district attorney. They are the officials responsible for enforcing state
law. The Foundation for Open Government also maintains a telephone hotline,
1-800/284-6634, for people who encounter problems getting records.
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