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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | 2023 -- H 5382 |
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| 6 | 6 | | ======== |
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| 7 | 7 | | LC000379 |
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| 8 | 8 | | ======== |
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| 9 | 9 | | S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023 |
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| 12 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 15 | 15 | | RELATING TO PUBLIC RECORDS -- ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS |
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| 16 | 16 | | Introduced By: Representatives Edwards, Shanley, Potter, Caldwell, Kennedy, |
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| 17 | 17 | | Chippendale, Fogarty, Bennett, Sanchez, and Newberry |
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| 18 | 18 | | Date Introduced: February 03, 2023 |
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| 19 | 19 | | Referred To: House State Government & Elections |
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| 20 | 20 | | |
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| 21 | 21 | | |
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| 22 | 22 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 23 | 23 | | SECTION 1. Sections 38-2-2 and 38-2-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 38-2 entitled 1 |
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| 24 | 24 | | "Access to Public Records" are hereby amended to read as follows: 2 |
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| 25 | 25 | | 38-2-2. Definitions. 3 |
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| 26 | 26 | | As used in this chapter: 4 |
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| 27 | 27 | | (1) “Agency” or “public body” means any executive, legislative, judicial, regulatory, or 5 |
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| 28 | 28 | | administrative body of the state, or any political subdivision thereof; including, but not limited to: 6 |
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| 29 | 29 | | any department, division, agency, commission, board, office, bureau, authority; any school, fire, or 7 |
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| 30 | 30 | | water district, or other agency of Rhode Island state or local government that exercises 8 |
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| 31 | 31 | | governmental functions; any authority as defined in § 42-35-1(b); or any other public or private 9 |
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| 32 | 32 | | agency, person, partnership, corporation, or business entity acting on behalf of and/or in place of 10 |
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| 33 | 33 | | any public agency. 11 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (2) “Chief administrative officer” means the highest authority of the public body. 12 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (3) “Public business” means any matter over which the public body has supervision, 13 |
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| 36 | 36 | | control, jurisdiction, or advisory power. 14 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (4) “Public record” or “public records” shall mean all documents, papers, letters, maps, 15 |
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| 38 | 38 | | books, tapes, photographs, films, sound recordings, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data 16 |
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| 39 | 39 | | processing records, computer stored data (including electronic mail messages, except specifically 17 |
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| 40 | 40 | | for any electronic mail messages of or to elected officials with or relating to those they represent 18 |
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| 41 | 41 | | and correspondence of or to elected officials in their official capacities), or other material regardless 19 |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 43 | 43 | | |
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| 44 | 44 | | LC000379 - Page 2 of 8 |
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| 45 | 45 | | of physical form or characteristics made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection 1 |
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| 46 | 46 | | with the transaction of official business by any agency. For the purposes of this chapter, the 2 |
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| 47 | 47 | | following records shall not be deemed public: 3 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (A)(I)(a) All records relating to a client/attorney relationship and to a doctor/patient 4 |
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| 49 | 49 | | relationship, including all medical information relating to an individual in any files. 5 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (b) Personnel and other personal individually identifiable records otherwise deemed 6 |
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| 51 | 51 | | confidential by federal or state law or regulation, or the disclosure of which would constitute a 7 |
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| 52 | 52 | | clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552 et seq.; provided, 8 |
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| 53 | 53 | | however, with respect to employees, and employees of contractors and subcontractors working on 9 |
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| 54 | 54 | | public works projects that are required to be listed as certified payrolls, the name, gross salary, 10 |
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| 55 | 55 | | salary range, total cost of paid fringe benefits, gross amount received in overtime, and any other 11 |
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| 56 | 56 | | remuneration in addition to salary, job title, job description, dates of employment and positions 12 |
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| 57 | 57 | | held with the state, municipality, or public works contractor or subcontractor on public works 13 |
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| 58 | 58 | | projects, employment contract, work location, and/or project, business telephone number, the city 14 |
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| 59 | 59 | | or town of residence, and date of termination shall be public. For the purposes of this section 15 |
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| 60 | 60 | | “remuneration” shall include any payments received by an employee as a result of termination, or 16 |
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| 61 | 61 | | otherwise leaving employment, including, but not limited to, payments for accrued sick and/or 17 |
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| 62 | 62 | | vacation time, severance pay, or compensation paid pursuant to a contract buy-out provision. For 18 |
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| 63 | 63 | | purposes of this section, the city or town residence shall not be deemed public for peace officers, 19 |
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| 64 | 64 | | as defined in § 12-7-21, and shall not be released. 20 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (c) All records relating to winners of Rhode Island lottery prizes and/or games. 21 |
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| 66 | 66 | | (II) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, or any other provision of the general 22 |
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| 67 | 67 | | laws to the contrary, the pension records of all persons who are either current or retired members 23 |
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| 68 | 68 | | of any public retirement systems, as well as all persons who become members of those retirement 24 |
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| 69 | 69 | | systems after June 17, 1991, shall be open for public inspection. “Pension records” as used in this 25 |
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| 70 | 70 | | section, shall include all records containing information concerning pension and retirement benefits 26 |
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| 71 | 71 | | of current and retired members of the retirement systems and future members of said systems, 27 |
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| 72 | 72 | | including all records concerning retirement credits purchased and the ability of any member of the 28 |
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| 73 | 73 | | retirement system to purchase retirement credits, but excluding all information regarding the 29 |
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| 74 | 74 | | medical condition of any person and all information identifying the member’s designated 30 |
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| 75 | 75 | | beneficiary or beneficiaries unless and until the member’s designated beneficiary or beneficiaries 31 |
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| 76 | 76 | | have received or are receiving pension and/or retirement benefits through the retirement system. 32 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (B) Trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person, firm, 33 |
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| 78 | 78 | | or corporation that is of a privileged or confidential nature. 34 |
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| 79 | 79 | | |
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| 80 | 80 | | |
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| 81 | 81 | | LC000379 - Page 3 of 8 |
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| 82 | 82 | | (C) Child custody and adoption records, records of illegitimate births, and records of 1 |
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| 83 | 83 | | juvenile proceedings before the family court. 2 |
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| 84 | 84 | | (D) All records maintained by law enforcement agencies for criminal law enforcement and 3 |
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| 85 | 85 | | all records relating to the detection and investigation of crime, including those maintained on any 4 |
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| 86 | 86 | | individual or compiled in the course of a criminal investigation by any law enforcement agency. 5 |
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| 87 | 87 | | Provided, however, such records shall not be deemed public only to the extent that the disclosure 6 |
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| 88 | 88 | | of the records or information (a) Could reasonably be expected to interfere with investigations of 7 |
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| 89 | 89 | | criminal activity or with enforcement proceedings; (b) Would deprive a person of a right to a fair 8 |
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| 90 | 90 | | trial or an impartial adjudication; (c) Could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted 9 |
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| 91 | 91 | | invasion of personal privacy; (d) Could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a 10 |
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| 92 | 92 | | confidential source, including a state, local, or foreign agency or authority, or any private institution 11 |
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| 93 | 93 | | that furnished information on a confidential basis, or the information furnished by a confidential 12 |
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| 94 | 94 | | source; (e) Would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or 13 |
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| 95 | 95 | | prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions; or 14 |
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| 96 | 96 | | (f) Could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual. Records 15 |
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| 97 | 97 | | relating to management and direction of a law enforcement agency and records or reports reflecting 16 |
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| 98 | 98 | | the initial arrest of an adult and the charge or charges brought against an adult shall be public. 17 |
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| 99 | 99 | | (E) Any records that would not be available by law or rule of court to an opposing party in 18 |
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| 100 | 100 | | litigation. 19 |
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| 101 | 101 | | (F) Scientific and technological secrets and the security plans of military and law 20 |
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| 102 | 102 | | enforcement agencies, the disclosure of which would endanger the public welfare and security. 21 |
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| 103 | 103 | | (G) Any records that disclose the identity of the contributor of a bona fide and lawful 22 |
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| 104 | 104 | | charitable contribution to the public body whenever public anonymity has been requested of the 23 |
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| 105 | 105 | | public body with respect to the contribution by the contributor. 24 |
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| 106 | 106 | | (H) Reports and statements of strategy or negotiation involving labor negotiations or 25 |
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| 107 | 107 | | collective bargaining. 26 |
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| 108 | 108 | | (I) Reports and statements of strategy or negotiation with respect to the investment or 27 |
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| 109 | 109 | | borrowing of public funds, until such time as those transactions are entered into. 28 |
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| 110 | 110 | | (J) Any minutes of a meeting of a public body that are not required to be disclosed pursuant 29 |
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| 111 | 111 | | to chapter 46 of title 42. 30 |
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| 112 | 112 | | (K) Preliminary drafts, notes, impressions, memoranda, working papers, and work 31 |
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| 113 | 113 | | products, including those involving research at state institutions of higher education on commercial, 32 |
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| 114 | 114 | | scientific, artistic, technical, or scholarly issues, whether in electronic or other format; provided, 33 |
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| 115 | 115 | | however, any documents submitted at a public meeting of a public body shall be deemed public. 34 |
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| 116 | 116 | | |
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| 117 | 117 | | |
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| 118 | 118 | | LC000379 - Page 4 of 8 |
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| 119 | 119 | | (L) Test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data used to administer a licensing 1 |
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| 120 | 120 | | examination, examination for employment or promotion, or academic examinations; provided, 2 |
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| 121 | 121 | | however, that a person shall have the right to review the results of his or her examination. 3 |
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| 122 | 122 | | (M) Correspondence of or to elected officials with or relating to those they represent and 4 |
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| 123 | 123 | | correspondence of or to elected officials in their official capacities. 5 |
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| 124 | 124 | | (N) The contents of real estate appraisals, engineering, or feasibility estimates and 6 |
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| 125 | 125 | | evaluations made for or by an agency relative to the acquisition of property or to prospective public 7 |
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| 126 | 126 | | supply and construction contracts, until such time as all of the property has been acquired or all 8 |
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| 127 | 127 | | proceedings or transactions have been terminated or abandoned; provided the law of eminent 9 |
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| 128 | 128 | | domain shall not be affected by this provision. 10 |
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| 129 | 129 | | (O) All tax returns. 11 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (P) All investigatory records of public bodies, with the exception of law enforcement 12 |
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| 131 | 131 | | agencies, pertaining to possible violations of statute, rule, or regulation other than records of final 13 |
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| 132 | 132 | | actions taken, provided that all records prior to formal notification of violations or noncompliance 14 |
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| 133 | 133 | | shall not be deemed to be public. 15 |
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| 134 | 134 | | (Q) Records of individual test scores on professional certification and licensing 16 |
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| 135 | 135 | | examinations; provided, however, that a person shall have the right to review the results of his or 17 |
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| 136 | 136 | | her examination. 18 |
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| 137 | 137 | | (R) Requests for advisory opinions until such time as the public body issues its opinion. 19 |
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| 138 | 138 | | (S) Records, reports, opinions, information, and statements required to be kept confidential 20 |
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| 139 | 139 | | by federal law or regulation or state law or rule of court. 21 |
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| 140 | 140 | | (T) Judicial bodies are included in the definition only in respect to their administrative 22 |
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| 141 | 141 | | function provided that records kept pursuant to the provisions of chapter 16 of title 8 are exempt 23 |
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| 142 | 142 | | from the operation of this chapter. 24 |
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| 143 | 143 | | (U) Library records that, by themselves or when examined with other public records, would 25 |
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| 144 | 144 | | reveal the identity of the library user requesting, checking out, or using any library materials. 26 |
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| 145 | 145 | | (V) Printouts from TELE — TEXT devices used by people who are deaf or hard of hearing 27 |
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| 146 | 146 | | or speech impaired. 28 |
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| 147 | 147 | | (W) All records received by the insurance division of the department of business regulation 29 |
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| 148 | 148 | | from other states, either directly or through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, 30 |
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| 149 | 149 | | if those records are accorded confidential treatment in that state. Nothing contained in this title or 31 |
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| 150 | 150 | | any other provision of law shall prevent or be construed as prohibiting the commissioner of 32 |
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| 151 | 151 | | insurance from disclosing otherwise confidential information to the insurance department of this 33 |
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| 152 | 152 | | or any other state or country, at any time, so long as the agency or office receiving the records 34 |
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| 153 | 153 | | |
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| 154 | 154 | | |
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| 155 | 155 | | LC000379 - Page 5 of 8 |
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| 156 | 156 | | agrees in writing to hold it confidential in a manner consistent with the laws of this state. 1 |
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| 157 | 157 | | (X) Credit card account numbers in the possession of state or local government are 2 |
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| 158 | 158 | | confidential and shall not be deemed public records. 3 |
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| 159 | 159 | | (Y) Any documentary material, answers to written interrogatories, or oral testimony 4 |
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| 160 | 160 | | provided under any subpoena issued under § 9-1.1-6. 5 |
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| 161 | 161 | | (Z) Any individually identifiable evaluations of public school employees made pursuant to 6 |
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| 162 | 162 | | state or federal law or regulation. 7 |
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| 163 | 163 | | (AA) All documents prepared by school districts intended to be used by school districts in 8 |
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| 164 | 164 | | protecting the safety of their students from potential and actual threats. 9 |
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| 165 | 165 | | (BB) The list of teachers terminated for good and just cause maintained by the department 10 |
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| 166 | 166 | | of education pursuant to § 16-13-9. 11 |
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| 167 | 167 | | 38-2-3. Right to inspect and copy records — Duty to maintain minutes of meetings — 12 |
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| 168 | 168 | | Procedures for access. 13 |
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| 169 | 169 | | (a) Except as provided for in the exemptions contained in § 38-2-2(4) § 38-2-2, all records 14 |
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| 170 | 170 | | maintained or kept on file by any public body, whether or not those records are required by any law 15 |
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| 171 | 171 | | or by any rule or regulation, shall be public records and every person or entity shall have the right 16 |
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| 172 | 172 | | to inspect and/or copy those records at such reasonable time as may be determined by the custodian 17 |
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| 173 | 173 | | thereof. 18 |
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| 174 | 174 | | (b) Any reasonably segregable portion of a public record excluded by § 38-2-2(4) shall be 19 |
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| 175 | 175 | | available for public inspection after the deletion of the information which is the basis of the 20 |
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| 176 | 176 | | exclusion. If an entire document or record is deemed non-public, the public body shall state in 21 |
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| 177 | 177 | | writing that no portion of the document or record contains reasonable segregable information that 22 |
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| 178 | 178 | | is releasable. 23 |
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| 179 | 179 | | (c) Each public body shall make, keep, and maintain written or recorded minutes of all 24 |
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| 180 | 180 | | meetings. 25 |
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| 181 | 181 | | (d) Each public body shall establish written procedures regarding access to public records 26 |
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| 182 | 182 | | but shall not require written requests for public information available pursuant to § 42-35-2 or for 27 |
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| 183 | 183 | | other documents prepared for or readily available to the public. 28 |
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| 184 | 184 | | These procedures must include, but need not be limited to, the identification of a designated 29 |
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| 185 | 185 | | public records officer or unit, how to make a public records request, and where a public record 30 |
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| 186 | 186 | | request should be made, and a copy of these procedures shall be posted on the public body’s website 31 |
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| 187 | 187 | | if such a website is maintained and be made otherwise readily available to the public. The 32 |
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| 188 | 188 | | unavailability of a designated public records officer shall not be deemed good cause for failure to 33 |
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| 189 | 189 | | timely comply with a request to inspect and/or copy public records pursuant to subsection (e). A 34 |
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| 190 | 190 | | |
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| 191 | 191 | | |
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| 192 | 192 | | LC000379 - Page 6 of 8 |
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| 193 | 193 | | written request for public records need not be made on a form established by a public body if the 1 |
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| 194 | 194 | | request is otherwise readily identifiable as a request for public records. 2 |
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| 195 | 195 | | (e) A public body receiving a request shall permit the inspection or copying within ten (10) 3 |
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| 196 | 196 | | business days after receiving a request. If the inspection or copying is not permitted within ten (10) 4 |
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| 197 | 197 | | business days, the public body shall forthwith explain in writing the need for additional time to 5 |
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| 198 | 198 | | comply with the request. Any such explanation must be particularized to the specific request made. 6 |
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| 199 | 199 | | In such cases the public body may have up to an additional twenty (20) business days to comply 7 |
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| 200 | 200 | | with the request if it can demonstrate that the voluminous nature of the request, the number of 8 |
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| 201 | 201 | | requests for records pending, or the difficulty in searching for and retrieving or copying the 9 |
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| 202 | 202 | | requested records, is such that additional time is necessary to avoid imposing an undue burden on 10 |
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| 203 | 203 | | the public body. 11 |
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| 204 | 204 | | (f) If a public record is in active use or in storage and, therefore, not available at the time a 12 |
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| 205 | 205 | | person or entity requests access, the custodian shall so inform the person or entity and make an 13 |
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| 206 | 206 | | appointment for the person or entity to examine such records as expeditiously as they may be made 14 |
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| 207 | 207 | | available. 15 |
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| 208 | 208 | | (g) Any person or entity requesting copies of public records may elect to obtain them in 16 |
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| 209 | 209 | | any and all media in which the public agency is capable of providing them. Any public body which 17 |
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| 210 | 210 | | maintains its records in a computer storage system shall provide any data properly identified in a 18 |
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| 211 | 211 | | printout or other reasonable format, as requested. 19 |
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| 212 | 212 | | (h) Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring a public body to reorganize, 20 |
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| 213 | 213 | | consolidate, or compile data not maintained by the public body in the form requested at the time 21 |
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| 214 | 214 | | the request to inspect the public records was made except to the extent that such records are in an 22 |
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| 215 | 215 | | electronic format and the public body would not be unduly burdened in providing such data. 23 |
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| 216 | 216 | | (i) Nothing in this section is intended to affect the public record status of information 24 |
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| 217 | 217 | | merely because it is stored in a computer. 25 |
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| 218 | 218 | | (j) No public records shall be withheld based on the purpose for which the records are 26 |
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| 219 | 219 | | sought, nor shall a public body require, as a condition of fulfilling a public records request, that a 27 |
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| 220 | 220 | | person or entity provide a reason for the request or provide personally identifiable information 28 |
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| 221 | 221 | | about him/herself. 29 |
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| 222 | 222 | | (k) At the election of the person or entity requesting the public records, the public body 30 |
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| 223 | 223 | | shall provide copies of the public records electronically, by facsimile, or by mail in accordance 31 |
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| 224 | 224 | | with the requesting person or entity’s choice, unless complying with that preference would be 32 |
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| 225 | 225 | | unduly burdensome due to the volume of records requested or the costs that would be incurred. The 33 |
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| 226 | 226 | | person requesting delivery shall be responsible for the actual cost of delivery, if any. 34 |
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| 227 | 227 | | |
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| 228 | 228 | | |
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| 229 | 229 | | LC000379 - Page 7 of 8 |
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| 230 | 230 | | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 1 |
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| 231 | 231 | | ======== |
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| 232 | 232 | | LC000379 |
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| 233 | 233 | | ======== |
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| 234 | 234 | | |
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| 235 | 235 | | |
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| 236 | 236 | | LC000379 - Page 8 of 8 |
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| 237 | 237 | | EXPLANATION |
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| 238 | 238 | | BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL |
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| 239 | 239 | | OF |
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| 240 | 240 | | A N A C T |
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| 241 | 241 | | RELATING TO PUBLIC RECORDS -- ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS |
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| 242 | 242 | | *** |
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| 243 | 243 | | This act would provide an exemption to the access to public records law for winners of 1 |
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| 244 | 244 | | Rhode Island lottery prizes and/or games. 2 |
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| 245 | 245 | | This act would take effect upon passage. 3 |
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| 246 | 246 | | ======== |
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| 247 | 247 | | LC000379 |
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| 248 | 248 | | ======== |
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