By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office could soon have the power to investigate delayed or denied open records requests after the state House advanced legislation Tuesday.
House Bill 2163 establishes the Public Access Counselor Unit within the Attorney General’s Office and allows people to file a report with the office with a written request. The measure is not expected to have an impact on the state budget.
Rep. John Pfeiffer, R-Orlando, who authored the legislation, said he hopes this will give private individuals, the media and lawmakers a path to speed up the release of public records.
“The way it is now in statute, the only recourse is to take the matter to district court. This will put an intermediary into the process to reduce time and court cost,” he said in a statement. “This would result in better transparency and accountability.”
Under the measure, the public access counselor can determine if the denied request is a violation of state law and has seven business days to forward the request to the public body and ask them to provide the records requested. The public body must then respond to the counselor.
The attorney general would examine the request and response by the public body and issue an advisement. The public body would be required to take necessary action to reasonably comply with the Open Records Act or respond to the requester.
The bill authorizes the attorney general to issue advisory opinions on compliance with the Open Records Act and to investigate and prosecute any civil or criminal action relating to violations of the act.
People requesting public records for commercial purposes would not be able to ask the office for a review.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond supported the House’s passage of the bill and said it was an “important transparency measure.”
“Oklahomans have a right to know how their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent and what their elected officials are doing to improve their lives,” he said in a statement.
Drummond previously issued a statement urging House lawmakers to pass the measure.
The bill is now eligible to be heard by the Oklahoma Senate after it was passed 80-9, with bipartisan support and opposition.
