Home - Indiana Coalition for Open Government

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...

Indiana Debate Commission: Governor candidates to participate in televised debate on October 24, 2024

Archived Debate The Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian candidates for Indiana governor have agreed to meet Oct. 24 in a televised debate organized by the Indiana Debate Commission. The debate among Mike Braun (R), Jennifer McCormick (D), and Donald Rainwater (L) will be broadcast live at 7-8...

WRTV Indianapolis: School board member aims to boost transparency after filing her own complaint

Kenney, Kara. 2023. School board member aims to boost transparency after filing her own complaint. WRTV. June 16, 2023. A West Lafayette mother and school board member is aiming to improve transparency and the public’s access to information. Click on the image to play the video.

IndyStar: Neighbors’ relief turns to anger as bar is OK’d: El Chila’s license was denied, then extended

Cook, Tony. 2023. Neighbors' relief turns to anger as bar is OK'd: El chila's license was denied, then extended. Indianapolis Star, Apr 09, 2023. Last month, the Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission used a new policy intended to crack down on problem bars to deny a liquor license extension to...

News from Indiana

Shelbyville Indiana Launches New Website, with Transparency Tools

Jul 19, 2025

The City of Shelbyville has launched a new website (based on CivicPlus) which includes new sections to help with transparency. The main tool, that we have seen, is the new Agenda and Minutes system, a standard with CivicPlus sites. And with the new streaming mandates...

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

May 31, 2025

Meet Indiana’s New Public Access Counselor, Jennifer Ruby

Apr 12, 2025

RELEASE: Governor Braun Appoints Jennifer Ruby as Indiana’s Public Access Counselor to Ensure Government Transparency and Accountability for Hoosiers INDIANAPOLIS – Governor Mike Braun today announced the appointment of Jennifer Ruby as Indiana’s Public Access...

News from ICOG

2023 IGA Amendment Dataset

May 19, 2023

One summer project for ICOG is to make more of the Indiana General Assembly Data available to Hoosiers. Here is the first installment of this series. Indiana General Assembly 2023 Amendment Dataset (CSV) Columns available: 'name', 'description', 'state',...

Pro-Tips for Sharpening Your Requests: 22-FC-91: Alleged Violation of the Access to Public Records Act by St. Joseph County

Aug 21, 2022

[This is taken from our newsletter, Open Doors. You can learn more and subscribe here: https://icog.substack.com] ✏️ Pro-Tips for Sharpening Your Requests ICOG highlights interesting Public Access Counselor opinions and other tips provided by the open government...

Subscribe to ICOG’s substack newsletter, Open Doors

Nov 28, 2021

The Indiana Coalition for Open Government has started a substack newsletter, Open Doors. We release an issue about once a month and it covers news, data, and tips for making public records requests. Want to read? You can subscribe below. Want to write? Get in touch....

All the News

Route Fifty: Access to public records is ‘deteriorating terribly’

Oct 31, 2023

Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene. 2023. Access to public records is 'deteriorating terribly'. Route Fifty, October 31st, 2023. Back in May, at the recommendation of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the state legislature made a change to its public records laws,...

CFOIC report: Colorado should bar public officials’ use of disappearing messaging apps for official business

Jul 20, 2023

Colorado should enact legislation like a 2021 Michigan statute that outlaws the use of disappearing messaging apps in state government, but the language should be broadened to affect all state and local officials, a law student’s report prepared for the Colorado...

Bloomberg: Meet the Man (Jason Leopold) Who Sues the Government for Information

Jul 20, 2023

Jason Leopold is an investigative journalist at Bloomberg News who aggressively uses the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to push for greater transparency and hold power to account. His document-based reporting has led to countless scoops, federal investigations and...