Put Public Records Online

Section 1. Section 84 of the public officers law, as added by chapter 933 of the laws of 1977, is amended to read as follows:

§ 84. Legislative declaration. The legislature hereby finds that a free society is maintained when government is responsive and responsible to the public, and when the public is aware of governmental actions. The more open a government is with its citizenry, the greater the understanding and participation of the public in government. People have a right to know how government operates and spends money.

As state and local government services increase and public problems become more sophisticated and complex and therefore harder to solve, and with the resultant increase in revenues and expenditures, it is incumbent upon the state and its localities to extend public accountability wherever and whenever feasible.

The people's right to know the process of governmental decision-making and to review the documents and statistics leading to determinations is basic to our society. Access to such information should not be thwarted by shrouding it with the cloak of secrecy or confidentiality.

Since the Freedom of Information Law was first adopted, advances in technology have enhanced the ability to gain access to and widely disseminate public information. Accordingly, the legislature finds that government agencies, when agencies have the ability to do so, should publish public records proactively on the internet that are of public interest and available under this article.

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD01427-01-5

The legislature therefore declares that government is the public's business and that the public, individually and collectively and represented by a free press, should have access to the records of government in accordance with the provisions of this article.

§ 2. Subdivisions 3 and 4 of section 86 of the public officers law, as added by chapter 933 of the laws of 1977, are amended and two new subdivisions 12 and 13 are added to read as follows:

3. "Agency" excludes the judiciary and state legislature, and means any state or municipal department, school district, board, bureau, division, commission, committee, public authority, public corporation, council, office or other governmental entity performing a governmental or proprietary function for the state or any one or more municipalities thereof, [except the judiciary or the state legislature] or any other body, by whatever name, acting on behalf of government which, considered in its totality, is functionally equivalent to an agency as defined in this subdivision because it substantially possesses any of the following features and functions:

(a) The body performs a governmental or proprietary function for the state or municipality;

(b) The body's members have authority to make decisions or recommendations on policy and administration affecting the conduct of the business of the people in the governmental sector;

(c) The body was created by a governmental or governmental-affiliated entity or the body's origin and authority may be traced to governmental action;

(d) The body is controlled by, overseen or operationally managed by a governmental or governmental-affiliated entity;

(e) The body receives substantial government financial or nonfinancial support;

(f) The body's officers and employees are public employees or are nominated or appointed by public employees; or

(g) The body was previously determined to be open to public access.

4. "Record" means any [information kept, held, filed, produced or reproduced by, with or for an agency or the state legislature, in any physical form whatsoever including, but not limited to, reports, statements, examinations, memoranda, opinions, folders, files, books, manuals, pamphlets, forms, papers, designs, drawings, maps, photos, letters, microfilms, computer tapes or discs, rules, regulations or codes] documents or electronically stored information, including but not limited to any writing, drawing, graph, chart, photograph, sound recording, video recording, image, and other data or data compilation, stored in any medium from which information can be obtained either directly or, if necessary, after translation by the agency into a reasonably usable form.

12. "Publishable state data" means data collected by a state agency that the agency is permitted, required or able to make available to the public, consistent with any and all applicable laws, rules, regulations, ordinances, resolutions, policies or other restrictions, requirements or rights associated with the state data, including but not limited to contractual or other legal orders, restrictions or requirements. Data shall not be publishable state data if making such data available on a website would violate statute or regulation, including disclosure that would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, endanger the public health, safety or welfare, hinder the operation of government, including criminal and civil investigations, or impose an undue financial, operational or administrative burden on the state agency or state.

13. "Business days" and "days" shall be calculated from date of submission, if electronic, or else postmark date.

§ 3. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision 1, paragraphs (c), (d), (e) and (g) of subdivision 2, paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 and paragraphs (b) and (c) of subdivision 4 of section 87 of the public officers law, paragraph (a) and the opening paragraph of paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 80 of the laws of 1983, paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 and paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 as added by chapter 933 of the laws of 1977, subparagraph iii of paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 7 of the laws of 2023, paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 289 of the laws of 1990, paragraph (e) of subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 155 of the laws of 2022, paragraph (g) of subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 510 of the laws of 1999, paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 499 of the laws of 2008, paragraph (b) of subdivision 4 as added by chapter 890 of the laws of 1981 and paragraph (c) of subdivision 4 as added by chapter 102 of the laws of 2007, are amended and a new subdivision 7 is added to read as follows:

(a) [Within sixty days after the effective date of this article, the governing body of each public corporation shall promulgate uniform rules and regulations for all agencies in such public corporation pursuant to such general rules and regulations as may be promulgated by the] The committee on open government shall promulgate general rules and regulations in conformity with the provisions of this article, pertaining to the administration of this article.

(b) Each agency shall [promulgate rules and regulations, in conformity with this article and applicable rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to] adopt the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subdivision, and pursuant to such general rules and regulations as [may be] are promulgated by the committee on open government in [conformity with the provisions of this article, pertaining to the availability of records and procedures to be followed] accordance with the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subdivision, shall promulgate agency-specific rules and regulations in conformity with the provisions of this article, including, but not limited to:

i. the times and places [such] agency records are available;

ii. the persons from whom such records may be obtained[,]; and

iii. except when a different fee is otherwise prescribed by statute:

(1) the fees for paper copies of records shall not exceed twenty-five cents per photocopy not in excess of nine inches by fourteen inches, or the actual cost of reproducing any other record in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (c) of this subdivision.

(2) In the case where an identical record has been prepared for a previous request within the past 6 months and an electronic copy is available, an agency shall not charge a fee for the reproduction of such record, except for the actual cost of a storage device or media if one is provided to the requester in complying with such request.

(c) if disclosed would impair present or imminent contract awards or collective bargaining negotiations;

(d) are trade secrets or are submitted to an agency by a commercial enterprise or derived from information obtained from a commercial enterprise under compulsion of law or regulation and which if disclosed would cause substantial injury to the competitive position of the subject enterprise;

(e) are compiled for such agency's law enforcement purposes only to the extent that disclosure would:

i. interfere with such agency's law enforcement investigations or judicial proceedings, provided however, that any agency, which is not conducting the investigation that the requested records relate to, that is considering denying access pursuant to this subparagraph shall receive confirmation from the law enforcement or investigating agency conducting the investigation that disclosure of such records will interfere with an ongoing investigation;

ii. deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or impartial adjudication;

iii. identify a confidential source or disclose confidential information relating to a criminal investigation; or

iv. reveal criminal investigative techniques or procedures, except routine techniques and procedures;

(g) are inter-agency or intra-agency deliberative materials, including recommendations, proposals, suggestions, and other subjective documents reflecting the personal opinions of the writer or writers rather than the policy of the agency, which are not:

i. statistical or factual tabulations or data;

ii. instructions to staff that affect the public;

iii. final agency policy or determinations;

iv. external audits, including but not limited to audits performed by the comptroller and the federal government; or

(c) a reasonably detailed current list by subject matter of all records in the possession of the agency, whether or not available under this article. Each agency shall update its subject matter list annually, and the date of the most recent update shall be conspicuously indicated on the list. Each state agency as defined in subdivision four of this section [that maintains a website] shall post its current list on its website and such posting shall be linked to the website of the committee on open government. [Any such agency that does not maintain a website shall arrange to have its list posted on the website of the committee on open government.]

(b) As used in this subdivision the term "agency" or "state agency" means [only a state department, board, bureau, division, council or office and any public corporation the majority of whose members are appointed by the governor] a board, bureau, division, commission, committee, public authority, public corporation, council, office or other governmental entity performing a governmental or proprietary function for the state, except the judiciary or the state legislature.

(c) Each state agency [that maintains] shall maintain a website [shall] and post information related to this article and article six-A of this chapter on its website. Such information shall include, at a minimum, contact information for the persons from whom records of the agency may be obtained, the times and places such records are available for inspection and copying, and information on how to request records in person, by mail, and[, if the agency accepts requests for records electronically,] by e-mail. This posting shall be linked to the website of the committee on open government.

(d) Every state agency shall make its publishable state data available on the agency's website or to the office of information technology services to be available on the state's open data website.

(e) Every agency shall make available on its website's homepage a link to that agency's current fiscal year budget.

7. Whenever there is a question as to whether or not a record should be disclosed, it shall be presumed that the requestor is entitled to the record.

§ 4. Subdivision 1, paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision 2, subdivisions 3 and 4 and paragraph (h) of subdivision 5 of section 89 of the public officers law, subdivision 1 as added by chapter 933 of the laws of 1977, paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 33 of the laws of 1984, paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 182 of the laws of 2006, paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 as amended by section 11 of part U of chapter 61 of the laws of 2011, paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 as amended by section 2 of part GGG of chapter 59 of the laws of 2019, subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 223 of the laws of 2008, paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 as added by chapter 47 of the laws of 2018, subdivision 4 as amended by chapter 22 of the laws of 2005, paragraph (c) of subdivision 4 as amended by chapter 453 of the laws of 2017, paragraph (d) of subdivision 4 as added by chapter 487 of the laws of 2016 and paragraph (h) of subdivision 5 as added by chapter 890 of the laws of 1981, are amended to read as follows: