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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7383
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 5693
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT
ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E FREEDOM OF INFORMA TION ACT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 1-211 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 2
(a) Any public agency [which] that maintains public records in a 3
computer storage system shall provide, to any person making a 4
request pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, a copy of any 5
nonexempt data contained in such records, properly identified, on 6
paper, disk, tape or any other electronic storage device or medium 7
requested by the person, including an electronic copy sent to the 8
electronic mail address of the person making such request, if the 9
agency can reasonably make any such copy or have any such copy 10
made. Except as otherwise provided by [state statute] the general 11
statutes, the cost for providing a copy of such data shall be in 12
accordance with the provisions of section 1-212. 13
(b) Except as otherwise provided by [state statute] the general 14
statutes, no public agency shall enter into a contract with, or otherwise 15 Raised Bill No. 7383
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obligate itself to, any person if such contract or obligation impairs the 16
right of the public under the Freedom of Information Act to inspect or 17
copy the agency's nonexempt public records existing on-line in, or 18
stored on a device or medium used in connection with, a computer 19
system owned, leased or otherwise used by the agency in the course of 20
its governmental functions. 21
(c) On and after July 1, 1992, before any public agency acquires any 22
computer system, equipment or software to store or retrieve 23
nonexempt public records, it shall consider whether such proposed 24
system, equipment or software adequately provides for the rights of 25
the public under the Freedom of Information Act at the least cost 26
possible to the agency and to persons entitled to access to nonexempt 27
public records under the Freedom of Information Act. In meeting its 28
obligations under this subsection, each state public agency shall 29
consult with the Department of Administrative Services as part of the 30
agency's design analysis prior to acquiring any such computer system, 31
equipment or software. The Department of Administrative Services 32
shall adopt written guidelines to assist municipal agencies in carrying 33
out the purposes of this subsection. Nothing in this subsection shall 34
require an agency to consult with said department prior to acquiring a 35
system, equipment or software or modifying software, if such 36
acquisition or modification is consistent with a design analysis for 37
which such agency has previously consulted with said department. 38
The Department of Administrative Services shall consult with the 39
Freedom of Information Commission on matters relating to access to 40
and disclosure of public records for the purposes of this subsection. 41
The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to software 42
modifications which would not affect the rights of the public under the 43
Freedom of Information Act. 44
Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 1-214 of the general statutes is 45
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 46
October 1, 2019): 47
(c) A public agency which has provided notice under subdivision 48 Raised Bill No. 7383
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(1) of subsection (b) of this section shall disclose the records requested 49
unless it receives a written objection from the employee concerned or 50
the employee's collective bargaining representative, if any, [within] not 51
later than seven business days [from] after the receipt by the employee 52
or such collective bargaining representative of the notice or, if there is 53
no evidence of receipt of written notice, not later than nine business 54
days from the date the notice is actually mailed, sent, posted or 55
otherwise given. Each objection filed under this subsection shall be on 56
a form prescribed by the public agency, which shall consist of a 57
statement to be signed by the employee or the employee's collective 58
bargaining representative, under the penalties of false statement, that 59
to the best of his or her knowledge, information and belief there is 60
good ground to support it and that the objection is not interposed for 61
delay. Upon the filing of an objection as provided in this subsection, 62
the agency shall not disclose the requested records unless ordered to 63
do so by the Freedom of Information Commission pursuant to section 64
1-206. Failure to comply with a request to inspect or copy records 65
under this section shall constitute a denial for the purposes of section 66
1-206. Notwithstanding any provision of this subsection or subsection 67
(b) of section 1-206 to the contrary, if an employee's collective 68
bargaining representative files a written objection under this 69
subsection, the employee may subsequently approve the disclosure of 70
the records requested by submitting a written notice to the public 71
agency. 72
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 1-211
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 1-214(c)
GAE Joint Favorable