A recent fight for a county supervisor’s emails and other records has prompted proposed changes to how such requests from local media outlets are handled.
In a June 24 memo outlining the proposed changes, most of which would likely require board approval, County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry wrote that currently there are “few, if any policies or procedures” that specifically require elected officials to comply with county public-records rules.
Among the proposed changes to county procedures are the addition of deadlines for responses; requiring that redaction of supervisors’ or other elected officials’ public records be conducted by the clerk of the board, not by the official or their office as happened with recent requests for Supervisor Ally Miller’s emails and other records; and prohibiting elected officials from using personal devices for county business, a rule already in place for other county employees, according to the memo.
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Additionally, anybody requesting records for a noncommercial purpose would not be charged a per-page fee if they receive those records electronically, according to the proposed changes.
“Given modern information management systems, it is clearly appropriate to provide requested public records electronically at little to no cost,” the memo reads.
Contact: mwoodhouse@tucson.com or 573-4235. On Twitter: @murphywoodhouse
