On paper, the state of Alabama has one of the most expansive open records laws in the nation. It says any citizen has the right to inspect and take copies of public writings, except for those exempted by law.

But in practice, Alabama’s law is one of the worst, because it’s essentially toothless.

State and local agencies can stall requests for information almost indefinitely, and ultimately members of the public and news organizations — usually the latter — have to sue in order to gain access to records that are supposed to be public as a matter of law.

That’s because Alabama’s current open records law doesn’t say when public agencies have to respond.

“It takes an average of 188 days for state agencies to respond to open records requests, according to MuckRock, a nonprofit organization that focuses on open government,” reports the nonprofit news and politics site Alabama Reflector. “The organization says there is only a 16.29% success rate for obtaining public records.”

In other words, the attitude of most state and local government bodies is, “Sure, you can have what you want, when we get around to it.”

It’s no wonder, then, that according to Al.com, “a 2019 study by a researcher at the University of Arizona ranked Alabama last among states in responsiveness to requests for records.”

But a bill filed by state Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, which this week passed the state Senate unanimously, would change that.

“The legislation would require a public records officer to acknowledge the receipt of a simple request within 10 days and then ‘provide a substantive response’ to the request within 15 additional business days,” according to The Associated Press’s summary “Public entities would be given more time to respond to requests that would require more than eight hours of work to fulfill.”

A request would be presumed denied if there is no response within 30 business days or 60 calendar days, although agencies could get extensions for time-intensive requests, provided they provide written notification to the requester. Afterward, a denied party could file suit.

“This bill establishes timelines and creates a framework for the public to make requests for public records. It also provides guidelines for the custodians of records in fulfilling the requests,” Felicia Mason, executive director of the Alabama Press Association, wrote in an email to The AP.

Unfortunately, filing suit is still the only enforcement mechanism under the bill. Previous legislation that Orr sponsored unsuccessfully would have created a board to deal with denied requests without forcing those denied to resort to expensive and often time-consuming litigation.

It also doesn’t address the issue of law enforcement bodycam video, which local and state agencies still withhold for the most frivolous of reasons.

On that score, the state Senate seems unwilling to budge. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday voted down a proposal that would have made most law enforcement dashboard and bodycam videos public record and widely distributable within 30 days.

The secrecy surrounding bodycam and dashcam video has become a particular flashpoint since a Decatur police officer shot and killed Decatur resident Steve Perkins last year and a Huntsville police officer shot and killed a suicidal man in 2018.

Orr’s bill now goes to the state House of Representatives, which we hope will act quickly to pass it.

The Issue Legislation that passed the state Senate this week and now awaits action in the state House would hopefully deter state and local government bodies from stalling open records requests.

— Decatur Daily