Before I write anything else, I want to apologize for gratuitously using an A.I.-generated photo of an attractive couple running down the beach holding sealed “Open Records” envelopes. What can I say? Open records aren’t exactly the most exciting topic out there, and I have to get people to click on this boring subject somehow.
Anyway, it seems like some odd things are afoot with Oklahoma open records laws.
Over the past couple of weeks, a pair of House committees advanced legislation that would stifle and restrict Oklahoma's open records law by allowing the Corporation Commission, ABLE Commission, and OBN to withhold certain documents related to investigations and litigation from open records requests.
This is usually the part of the article where I quote a third-party nonprofit source for serious legitimacy, but since that doesn’t seem to exist, here’s the official bill summary.
Yep, good news, huh? We’re finally protecting ABLE, OBN, and the Corporation Commission – three friends of the taxpayers – from the dangerous threat of open records. If that seems suspicious and weird, at least we have Democrats to call attention to it, right?
Well, they actually all voted for the bill to advance:
I don’t know, but something about this seems fishy.
With more and more scandals coming to light in this state, you’re telling me not one Democrat raised their hand and said, “Do we really want to let these guys operate in even more secrecy?”
Seriously, open records are one of the most important tools for journalists, watchdogs, and activists who want to know what their government is actually doing – so why would we pass laws that make them even harder to obtain?
Plus, it seems like this law could be ripe for abuse. What would prevent the Corporation Commission from stuffing awkward emails about groping a lobbyist into a folder labeled “Investigatory – Do Not Open”?
But then again, what do I know? I’m just a guy who once unsuccessfully sued Mary Fallin for open records, not some politicians helping government bureaucrats keep public records secret. So what do I know?
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll let you know what happens next.
