In honor of Sunshine Week (which really should be all year!), we are highlighting a few projects we have been working on:

IGA Insights.com – An analytical tool for the Indiana General Assembly Action and Vote data on the various bills. It is currently in alpha-experimental stage right now. Due to frequent changes in the code, at this time, do not rely completely on the data displayed.

While we try to ensure accuracy, there are some edge cases (Senator Andy Zay, District 17, quit this session to serve as chairman of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission) that are causing some issues where District 17 is involved. Other instances don’t always have the latest Action date. Please verify the data for anything you want to take action on.

Updates are released every week or so.

APRA is Primary / ODL is Primary – An information campaign to connect with all Indiana Representative and Senate candidates ahead of the May 5th primary to help them understand the critical function the Access to Public Records Act and Open Door Law serve in the public’s right to know.

We are working on some bullet points that can help you share the overall necessity to strengthen, not weaken, APRA and ODL. If you have your own stories, please share them back with us at info@indianacog.org.

As a reminder, APRA (Indiana Code 5-14-3) opens with the following:

IC 5-14-3-1Public policy; construction; burden of proof for nondisclosure

     Sec. 1. A fundamental philosophy of the American constitutional form of representative government is that government is the servant of the people and not their master. Accordingly, it is the public policy of the state that all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and employees. Providing persons with the information is an essential function of a representative government and an integral part of the routine duties of public officials and employees, whose duty it is to provide the information. This chapter shall be liberally construed to implement this policy and place the burden of proof for the nondisclosure of a public record on the public agency that would deny access to the record and not on the person seeking to inspect and copy the record.

As added by P.L.19-1983, SEC.6. Amended by P.L.77-1995, SEC.1.