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The
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
has published the
Open Government Guide,
a complete compendium of information on every state’s open records and open meetings laws. There are three different ways to use the
guide, as described below:
- BROWSE: Each state's section is arranged according to a standard outline, making it easy to compare laws in various states.
Click on a state name to read through the outline of topics covered. If you click on Florida, for example, you will be directed to a
page that provides an outline of the topics covered. By clicking on the hyperlinked sections of the outline, you can receive guidance
on a variety of topics, including the basic application of the statute, records subject and not subject to the act,
exemptions and other legal limitations, state law on electronic records, record categories, procedure for
obtaining records, and many others.
- SEARCH: This feature allows you to perform a full-text search of all 50 states. The
advanced
search option allows you
to limit the search to select sates or search using natural language or Boolean search terms. As an example of a basic search, type
the term labor into the search box. The first result retrieved:
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- Hawaii: Open Meetings • III. MEETING CATEGORIES -- OPEN OR CLOSED. • C. Business and industry relations.
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Adjudicatory proceedings involving the Hawaii Labor Relations Board, the Labor and Industrial Relations Appeal Board, or the Board of
Trustees for the State of Hawaii Employees' Retirement System are all closed. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 92-6. Deliberations about "the authority
of persons designated . . . to conduct labor negotiations" fall within purposes for which closed meetings are allowed. Haw. Rev. Stat.
§ 92-5(a)(3).
- COMPARE: Use this feature to compare a single outline point across multiple states. First select an outline topic from
the dropdown menu and then select the states you would like to compare (click on the radio button the left of the state name). For
example, if you want to compare “Open Records IV. RECORD CATEGORIES -- OPEN OR CLOSED B. Bank records”, select that topic from the
menu and then select two or more states, such as Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The results page will display the full-text of
the selected section for each state (in alphabetical order by state name).
For more information about the Open Government Guide, be sure to see the
Introductory Note
and
User's Guide.
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