S.R. No. 81 Summary

• Request for the Office of Information Practices to conduct a trial preliminary inclination process for public appeals under the Uniform Information Practices Act and Sunshine Law from July 1, 2019 to December 1, 2019.

• Office must evaluate the relative merits of each appeal within four weeks of receipt and prepare preliminary inclinations for at least ten appeals within six weeks of receipt.

• Preliminary inclinations must be published on the Internet for public access, and appellants must receive copies of agency responses if not already provided.

• Office must submit a report to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the 2020 Regular Session with findings, recommendations, and specific suggestions for improving appeal resolution timeframes with existing budget and staffing.

• If the trial process proves effective, the Office is requested to expand it to additional appeals and continue studying its effects on resolution timeframes and staff workload.