Edmondson educates public officials on Open Records Act

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- State Attorney General Drew Edmondson on Wednesday gave officials a brief lesson on the Open Meeting and Open Records Act that included a warning about electronic mail.

Edmondson was among the speakers at the day-long workshop in Oklahoma City sponsored by the Oklahoma Municipal League for those responsible for their agencies' records.

The e-mail issue drew the most interest among the 200 county clerks, school superintendents, police officers and public relations staffers, who were told that every e-mail they send is a public record.

"I threw out e-mails because if it's not on your radar screen it should be," he said.

Edmondson said he expects that as technology becomes more widely used, officials will ask questions like whether a board can meet in an Internet chat room. He thinks the answer would be no.

Other questions included whether a clerk can ask a person to fill out a form with a name, address and reason for wanting the record before it is given to them.

The law does not require filling out a form to receive public records, Edmondson said.

"They don't even have to give you their name," he said.

He said the agency may want to know if a person plans to use the record for profit, because the law allows an agency to charge a fee to businesses or individuals that use the records commercially.

Elaine Barker, Sayre's city clerk, said she has asked people to fill out forms for records before. She didn't know what she was doing was wrong -- which is why she attended the seminar.

"I want to know what I need to be doing," she said. "I hear one thing from one side and a different thing from another side."

Edmondson said employees of public agencies need to learn as much as they can about Oklahoma's openness laws, but assured them not to worry if they can't understand it all.

"We'll never reach a point where all the questions will be answered and everything is crystal clear," he said.