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2015 Regular Session
SENATE BILL NO. 190
BY SENATORS CLAITOR AND ADLEY
Prefiled pursuant to Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana.
PUBLIC RECORDS. Provides relative to the records of the governor. (gov sig)
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 44:5, relative to public records; to provide for the application of
3 public records law to records of the office of the governor; to provide for exceptions;
4 and to provide for related matters.
5 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
6 Section 1. R.S. 44:5 is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
7 ยง5. Records of the office of the governor
8 A. This Chapter shall not apply to any records having been used, being in use,
9 possessed, or retained for use by the governor in the usual course of the duties and
10 business of his office relating to the deliberative process of the governor, intra-office
11 communications of the governor and his internal staff, the governor's security and
12 schedule, or communications with or the security and schedule of the governor's
13 spouse or children. The legislature recognizes that it is essential to the
14 maintenance of a democratic society that public business be performed in an
15 open and public manner, and that the citizens be advised of and be aware of the
16 performance of public officials and the deliberations and decisions that go into
17 making public policy. Toward this end, the provisions of this Section, as well as
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1 the rest of this Chapter, shall be construed liberally so as to facilitate, rather
2 than hinder, access to public records.
3 B.(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Subsection, the provisions of this
4 Section shall not apply to any agency, office, or department transferred or placed
5 within the office of the governor. Records of the office of the governor shall be
6 public records and shall be subject to the provisions of this Chapter.
7 (2) Notwithstanding Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, a record limited to
8 pre-decisional advice and recommendations to the governor concerning budgeting
9 in the custody of any agency or department headed by an unclassified gubernatorial
10 appointee shall be privileged for six months from the date such record is prepared.
11 Any record of the office of the governor relative to fiscal or budgetary matters,
12 including but not limited to a record of communications between the legislative
13 auditor's office and the office of the governor relative to fiscal or budgetary
14 matters, shall be public record.
15 (3) Notwithstanding Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this Subsection, a record
16 of the office of the governor relating to intraoffice communications of the
17 governor and his staff may be privileged from disclosure only if it falls within
18 the attorney-client privilege, personal privacy of an individual, or any
19 applicable exception in this Chapter. Intraoffice communications shall include
20 any communications sent or received on a nonstate issued email address or
21 device if such communications are work related.
22 (4) Notwithstanding Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this Subsection, any
23 record of the office of the governor pertaining to the schedule of the governor,
24 his spouse, or his child that contains security details that if made public may
25 impair the safety of the governor, his spouse, or his child may be held
26 confidential for a period not to exceed seven days following the scheduled event.
27 However, nothing in this Paragraph shall be interpreted or construed in a
28 manner to make confidential all records concerning a meeting or event that the
29 governor attends and transportation related thereto. The governor may keep
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1 a record concerning a meeting or event that the governor attends and
2 transportation thereto privileged for a period not to exceed seven days after the
3 occurrence of the meeting or event.
4 (5) For purposes of this Section, "office of the governor" means the
5 governor, his chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, and his executive counsel.
6 C. The provisions of Subsection B of this Section shall not prevent any
7 person from inspecting, examining and, copying, or obtaining an electronic or
8 physical reproduction of any records record pertaining to any money or monies,
9 any assets or items of economic value to the state, or any financial transactions in
10 the control of or handled by or through the governor or the office of the governor.
11 D. For purposes of this Section:
12 (1) "Deliberative process" means the process by which decisions and policies
13 are formulated.
14 (2) "Internal staff of the governor" means the governor, chief of staff,
15 executive counsel, director of policy, and employees under their supervision. Internal
16 staff shall not mean any person employed in any other executive agency, including
17 those designated by state law as housed in or transferred to the office of the
18 governor.
19 (3) Records "relating to the deliberative process of the governor" means all
20 forms of pre-decisional advice, opinions, deliberations, or recommendations made
21 for the purpose of assisting the governor in the usual course of the duties and
22 business of his office. The governor and his internal staff shall preserve all
23 records to which this Section is applicable and at the conclusion of his term of
24 office, the governor shall transfer all such records to the custody of the archives
25 division of the secretary of state. Any exemption granted by this Section for
26 such records shall continue in accordance with Subsection E of this Section. For
27 purposes of this Subsection, "internal staff" of the governor includes the
28 governor's chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, executive counsel, and director
29 of policy, but shall not include any employee of any other agency, department,
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1 or office.
2 E. Notwithstanding any provision of this Chapter, the state police shall
3 maintain a travel log identifying the date and location of all travel by the governor
4 in a state police helicopter, which record shall be available for inspection and
5 copying in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter. Entries to the state police
6 helicopter travel log shall be made within seven days after the date of travel. Any
7 exemption granted by this Section shall lapse eight years after the creation of
8 the record to which the exemption is applicable. After the lapse of eight years,
9 the records of the office of the governor, as maintained by the state archivist
10 and deposited with the state archives program pursuant to R.S. 44:417, shall be
11 public record.
12 Section 2. This Act shall become effective upon signature by the governor
13 or, if not signed by the governor, upon expiration of the time for bills to become law
14 without signature by the governor, as provided by Article III, Section 18 of the
15 Constitution of Louisiana. If vetoed by the governor and subsequently approved by
16 the legislature, this Act shall become effective on the day following such approval.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Ashley E. Menou.
DIGEST
SB 190 Original 2015 Regular Session Claitor
Present law relative to public records provides that present law does not apply to any records
having been used, being in use, possessed, or retained for use by the governor in the usual
course of the duties and business of his office that relate to the deliberative process of the
governor, intraoffice communications of the governor and his internal staff, the governor's
security and schedule, or communications with or the security and schedule of the governor's
spouse or child.
Proposed law deletes these provisions of present law, and further provides expressly that
records of the office of the governor are public records and subject to the provisions of
present law relative to public records. Proposed law further provides that any record of the
office of the governor relative to fiscal or budgetary matters, including but not limited to a
record of communications between the legislative auditor's office and the office of the
governor relative to fiscal or budgetary matters, is a public record.
Proposed law provides that, notwithstanding proposed law, a record of the office of the
governor relating to intraoffice communications of the governor and his staff may be
privileged from disclosure, but this privilege does not apply to any record of the office of the
governor relative to fiscal matters.
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Proposed law provides that communications sent or received from a nonstate issued email
address or device is still considered intraoffice communication if such communication is
work related.
Proposed law provides that any record of the office of the governor pertaining to the
schedule of the governor or that of his spouse or child that contains security details that if
made public may impair the safety of the governor or his spouse or child may be held
confidential for a period not to exceed seven days following the scheduled event. Proposed
law further provides that nothing in proposed law is to be interpreted or construed in a
manner to make confidential all records concerning a meeting or event that the governor
attends and transportation related thereto. Proposed law further provides that the governor
may keep a record concerning a meeting or event that he attends and transportation related
thereto privileged for a period not to exceed seven days after the occurrence of the meeting
or event.
Proposed law provides that proposed law does not apply to the records of any agency
transferred or placed within the office of the governor or to the records of any other
executive branch agency.
Proposed law provides that "office of the governor" means the governor, his chief of staff,
deputy chief of staff, and his executive counsel.
Present law provides that present law does not prevent any person from examining and
copying any records pertaining to any money or monies or any financial transactions in the
control of or handled by or through the governor or the office of the governor.
Proposed law retains present law, and adds that proposed law does not prevent any person
from inspecting or obtaining an electronic or physical reproduction of any record pertaining
to any money or monies, any assets or items of economic value to the state, or any financial
transactions in the control of or handled by or through the governor or office of the governor.
Proposed law provides that the governor or his internal staff (the governor's chief of staff,
deputy chief of staff, executive counsel, and director of policy, but not employees of any
other agency, department, or office) are to preserve all records to which proposed law
applies, and at the conclusion of his term of office, the governor is to transfer all such
records to the custody of the archives division of the secretary of state. Proposed law further
provides that any exemption for such records continues in accordance with proposed law.
Proposed law provides that any exemption granted by proposed law lapses eight years after
the creation of the record to which the exemption is applicable. Proposed law further
provides that after the lapse of eight years, the records of the office of the governor, as
maintained by the state archivist and deposited with the state archives program pursuant to
present law, are public record.
Effective upon signature of the governor or lapse of time for gubernatorial action.
(Amends R.S. 44:5)
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