Access to Public Records Reform (S 909, H 6273)

Rhode Island's Access to Public Records Act has not been amended in over a decade, and this legislation would update and strengthen this critical statute which upholds the public's "right to know." The proposed changes in this legislation cover a number of important issues, including: tightening up the exemptions for so-called "investigatory" records and police incident reports; requiring an agency's procedures for handling APRA requests to be more easily available; calling for greater explanation when records are withheld; and reducing the costs that public bodies can change requesters. Unfortunately, this legislation died in committee.