JK2BNN-1 05/31/2023 PMG (L) tgw 2023-2328 Sub SB196 ENGROSSEDETHICS JISSNY-2AND ByCAMPAIGN SenatorsFINANCE Orr,SUBSTITUTE Albritton,TO Livingston,SB196 Butler,OFFERED Allen,BY Waggoner,REPRESENTATIVE JonesENGLAND RFD:2 4 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT 9 Relating to public writings;

Countyto amend Section 36-12-41, Code of Alabama 1975, and Municipaladd GovernmentSections First36-12-43, Read:36-12-44, and 36-12-45 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to establish procedures for requesting and obtaining public writings;

11-Apr-23 2023 Regular Session Page 0 SB196 Engrossed 2 4 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT 9 Relating to open records;

to amend Section 36-12-41, Code of Alabama 1975, and add Sections 36-12-43, 36-12-44, and 36-12-45 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to establish procedures for requesting and obtaining public records;

"§36-12-41 (a) Every public officer having the custody of a public writing which record that a citizen has a right to inspect is bound to give him required to provide him or her, on demand, with a certified copy of it the public record,writing, on payment of the legal fees therefor, and such the copy isshall be admissible as evidence in like cases and with like effect as the original writing.

(b) For purposes of this article, a "public record"writing" does not include a record of the judicial branch of state government." Page 1 SB196JK2BNN-1 Engrossed05/31/2023 PMG (L) tgw 2023-2328 Sub SB196 Section 2.

§36-12-43 (a)(a)(1) A citizen may request access to a public recordwriting by deliveringfollowing the requestwritten byprocess handfor oraccepting bysuch mailingrequests theestablished requestby to the public officer having custody of the public record.writing.

A request for access to a public recordwriting may be made electronically if the public officer having custody of the public writing has established a written process for accepting electronic requests.

A requestpublic forofficer accessshall madenot pursuantbe obligated to thisrespond articleto shalla identifyrequest thefor requesteda public recordwriting withthat reasonableis specificity.not made pursuant to the public officer's established process.

(b)(1)(2) ForIf purposesthe ofpublic thisofficer article,has receiptnot ofestablished a hand-deliveredwritten process, a citizen may request occursaccess onto a public writing by delivering the daterequest ofby deliveryhand or by mailing the request to the public officer having custody of the public record.writing.

For(3) purposesA ofrequest anfor educationalaccess institution,made receiptpursuant occursto whenthis thearticle requestshall isidentify delivered to the mainrequested officepublic ofwriting thewith educationalreasonable institution.specificity.

(2)The Forpublic purposesofficer ofshall thisnot article,be receiptobligated ofto arespond mailedto requestrequests occursfor onpublic thewritings datewhich ofare actualdeemed receiptvague, byambiguous, theoverly publicbroad, officer.or unreasonable in scope.

(b)Provided the requester has followed the public officer's written process for accepting requests, if any, for the purposes of this article, all of the following apply:

(1) Receipt of a hand-delivered request occurs on the date of delivery to the public officer having custody of the public writing, provided that for educational institutions, receipt occurs when the request is delivered to the main Page 2 JK2BNN-1 05/31/2023 PMG (L) tgw 2023-2328 Sub SB196 office of the educational institution, unless the educational institution has a written process for accepting requests, in which case the requester shall follow the institution's written process.

(2) Receipt of a mailed request occurs on the date of actual receipt by the public officer.

(3) ForReceipt purposes of this article, receipt of an electronically received request occurs when the public officer acknowledges receipt of the request in writing to the requester.

(c)(c)(1) The public officer shall promptly, but in all cases Page 2 SB196 Engrossed not more than 10 business days after the date of receipt, acknowledge receipt of the request.request;

§36-12-44provided, Writtenhowever, requeststhe time for publicacknowledging recordsreceipt mayshall benot madebegin onto arun, formand thatthe ispublic substantiallyofficer similarshall have no obligation to respond, unless and until the following:requester follows the written process established by the public officer for accepting requests, if any, and the request is properly completed as required by Section 36-12-44.

(2) If after the 10-day period the requester has not received acknowledgment, the requester may contact the governmental agency maintaining or having custody of the public writing to verify receipt of the request or obtain information on how the request can be properly submitted.

§36-12-44 Written requests for public writings may be made on a form similar to the following, provided a public officer's Page 3 JK2BNN-1 05/31/2023 PMG (L) tgw 2023-2328 Sub SB196 written procedures may require additional information:

______________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ Agency you are requesting public recordswritings from:

_____________________________________________ Recordswritings requested:

RequestsA thatpublic areofficer overlyshall broadnot maybe takeobligated longer to respond to and may increase the fees to cover the administrative cost of searching and copying the requested records.) ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ Payment of fees may be required before your request is fulfilled." §36-12-45 (a) Upon receipt of a request forthat ais publicvague, recordambiguous, asoverly providedbroad, in Section 36-12-43, a public officer shall promptly, Page 3 SB196 Engrossed but in all cases not more than 20 business days after the date of receipt of the request, make one or moreunreasonable of the following responses to the requester in writing:scope.

(1)Additionally, Respondextensive thatrequests accessfor public writings may increase the fees to cover the administrative cost of searching and copying the requested publicwritings.) records______________________________________________________________ will______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ Payment of fees may be required before your request is fulfilled." §36-12-45 (a) Upon receipt of a proper request for a public writing as provided atin Section 36-12-43, a setpublic time,officer place,shall andpromptly, locationbut duringin regularall cases not more than 20 business hoursdays after the date of receipt of the request, make one or atPage a4 time,JK2BNN-1 place,05/31/2023 andPMG location(L) mutuallytgw agreeable2023-2328 toSub SB196 more of the publicfollowing officerresponses andto the requester.requester in writing:

(2)(1) Respond withthat anaccess estimateto of the costsrequested forpublic copyingwritings will be provided at a set time, place, and productionlocation ofduring theregular requestedbusiness hours or at a time, place, and location mutually agreeable to the public records.officer and the requester.

(2) Respond with an estimate of the costs for copying and production of the requested public writings.

95 (4) Deny the request in part and grant the request in part by providing access to or an estimate of cost for copying and production of the requested public recordswritings that are not withheld or that have been redacted, excised, or deleted in order to remove the portion of the recordwriting in which an exemption, prohibition, or exception applies.

(5) Deny the request, in whole or in part, on the grounds that the public officer is not the custodian of the requested public recordwriting. and, if known to the public officer, identify the custodian to the requester.

(6) Deny the request, in whole or in part, on the grounds that, to the best of the public officer's knowledge, the requested recordwriting does not exist within the governmental agency.

(b)(7) IfDeny the publicrequest, officerin reasonablywhole believesor thein amountpart, ofon timethe andgrounds resourcesthat neededthe requester failed to substantially comply with the requestprocedures withinfor thewritten timerequests requiredfor bypublic thiswritings sectionestablished willby prevent the public officer orand, hisif orthe herrequester staffprovides froma meetingreasonable theirbasis Pageto 4establish SB196why Engrossedcompliance operationalwith responsibilities, the publicprocedures officeris shallunduly provideburdensome, theimpractical, requesteror thePage opportunity5 toJK2BNN-1 limit05/31/2023 thePMG scope(L) oftgw the2023-2328 requestSub soSB196 thatimpossible, itprovide canto bethe processedrequester ina anreasonable agreedalternative uponfor timerequesting between the public officerwritings. and the requester.

(c)(b) If the public officer andreasonably believes the requesteramount agreeof time and resources needed to thecomply copyingwith andthe productionrequest ofwithin the requestedtime publicrequired recordby basedthis onsection will prevent the estimatepublic ofofficer costor providedhis inor subdivisionher (a)(2)staff orfrom subdivisionmeeting (a)(4),their operational responsibilities, the public officer shall provide to the requester anthe estimateopportunity to limit the scope of the additionalrequest timeso neededthat toit producecan thebe copyprocessed underin thean agreed upon conditions.time between the public officer and the requester.

The(c) additionalIf timethe shallpublic notofficer exceedand 45the businessrequester daysagree afterto the datecopying and production of the agreementrequested withpublic writing based on the requester,estimate plusof ancost additionalprovided 15in businesssubdivision days(a)(2) permittedor insubdivision order(a)(4), tothe makepublic aofficer determinationshall whetherprovide to the requestedrequester recordan isestimate sensitiveof orthe isadditional otherwisetime nonpublicneeded informationto produce the copy under applicablethe law.agreed upon conditions.

(d)The Anyadditional denialtime ofshall thenot request,exceed in45 wholebusiness ordays inafter part,the shalldate identifyof the subjectagreement matterwith of the withheldrequester, publicplus recordsan andadditional cite15 thebusiness specificdays reasonpermitted orin reasonsorder forto make a determination whether the withholdingrequested thatwriting areis knownsensitive byor theis publicotherwise officernonpublic atinformation thatunder time.applicable law.

A(d) publicFor officerpurposes mayof revisethis thesection, initial"business reasonsday" formeans a denialday bythat sending the requesterpublic theofficer's revisedoffice reasonsis foropen to the denialpublic notand moreconducting thannormal 30operations. business days after the initial denial.

(e) ForA purposespublic ofofficer thisshall section,not "businessbe day"required meansto create a daynew that the public officer'swriting officeif is open to the publicwriting andrequested conductingdoes normalnot operations.already exist.

(f) AThis publicarticle officeris shallnot intended to and does not beaffect requiredPage to6 createJK2BNN-1 a05/31/2023 newPMG public(L) recordtgw if2023-2328 theSub recordSB196 requestedany doesprotections notfor alreadysensitive exist.or other nonpublic information provided under applicable law.

Page 5 SB196 Engrossed (g) Failure by a public officer to respond in accordance with this section to a request shall be deemed a denial of the request and shall constitute a violation of this section.

The disclosure of nonpublic or sensitive information constitutes a violation of this section if the public officer has made no effort to narrow the scope of the request or otherwise provide for proper disclosure under subsection (b).

(h) This article is not intended to and does not affect any protections for sensitive or other nonpublic information provided under applicable law.

Page 6 SB196 Engrossed Senate Read for the first time and referred ................11-Apr-23 to the Senate committee on County and Municipal Government Read for the second time and placed ................13-Apr-23 on the calendar: