ICOG News - Indiana Coalition for Open Government

IndyStar: Media orgs threaten legal action over delays in Indiana’s public access office

Grace Randolph. 2026-08-05. Indianapolis Star. You can read the letter from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press here. Update: Gov. Mike Braun released the following statement after the initial publication of the story: "Gov. Braun has long been an advocate for transparency. That is...

IndyStar: Under Braun’s watchdog, government secrecy grows harder to challenge

Cate Charron & Grace Randolph. 2026-07-24. Indianapolis Star Indiana’s public access counselor is supposed to ensure transparency in government. But under Gov. Mike Braun’s appointee, Jennifer Ruby, it has become far more difficult for Hoosiers to challenge government secrecy, an IndyStar...

Indiana Public Access Counselor, Jennifer Ruby, Publishes First Two Opinions

You can read the first two (and more in the future) 2025 Advisory Opinions from Indiana's new Public Access Counselor, Jennifer Ruby: 25-FC-00B: Alleged Violation of the Access to Public Records Act by the New Carlisle Town Council 25-FC-003: Alleged Violation of the Open Door Law by the Green...

Who you gonna call? 260-ASK-ICOG!

We are excited to launch our public access (ODL, APRA, and civics phone help line), 260-ASK-ICOG. Staffed by ICOG volunteers, we'll do our best to assist you with your questions related to open government in the Hoosier state. Currently being explored as a pilot project, we will re-evaluate the...

The Indiana Capital Chronicle: Indiana public access office goes quiet amid turnover

Leslie Bonilla Muñiz. 2025-05-30. Indiana Capital Chronicle. Tippecanoe County resident Pamela Frazee just wants to know if her messages went through. Phone calls to Indiana’s Office of the Public Access Counselor (PAC) route directly to a voicemail box and aren’t returned. Emails — including...

News from Indiana

Indianapolis Star: ‘Truth must be told’ – Family demands answers after Speedway police kill schizophrenic man

Mar 31, 2021

Mack, Justin L. 2021. 'Truth must be told': Family demands answers after Speedway police kill schizophrenic man Indianapolis Star, Mar 26, 2021. (accessed March 31, 2021). The family of a mentally ill Black man shot and killed by Speedway police officers last month is...

South Bend Tribune: New train station in South Bend: lots of money on studies. No progress. No location settled.

Mar 24, 2021

Sheckler, Christian. 2021. New train station in south bend: Lots of money on studies. no progress. no location settled. TCA Regional News, Mar 21, 2021. (accessed March 24, 2021). Mar. 21—In 2018, when former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg threw his support behind a...

IGA 2021 Session: House Bill 1365

Feb 12, 2021

HB 1365: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2021/bills/house/1365 An incredibly large bill (115 pages), with various reforms to election law in Indiana. One change we saw of concern is making any Anomaly Report confidential except at the discretion of the Secretary of...

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IndyStar sues 8 hospitals for records violations: Claim: Public spending on nursing homes obscured

Aug 11, 2022

Magdaleno, Johnny. 2022. IndyStar sues 8 hospitals for records violations: Claim: Public spending on nursing homes obscured. Indianapolis Star, Aug 10, 2022. (accessed August 11, 2022). Eight Indiana hospitals are violating state records laws by withholding...

New Mexico: Public university foundations are subject to FOI laws, appeals court rules

May 6, 2022

The New Mexico Court of Appeals has affirmed that records generated by the University of New Mexico Foundation and its athletic booster clubs are subject to public inspection under the state’s transparency law.The April 21 court ruling states there are no overarching...

CDC Tracked Millions of Phones to See If Americans Followed COVID Lockdown Orders

May 4, 2022

Cox, Joseph. 2022. CDC Tracked Millions of Phones to See If Americans Followed COVID Lockdown Orders. May 3rd, 2022 (Accessed May 4th, 2022) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) bought access to location data harvested from tens of millions of phones...