The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "public access law" ...
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I-Team: Highway Robbery
WCPO's investigative unit exposed widespread theft of traffic fines by court clerks in a local community notorious as a speed trap -- Arlington Heights, Ohio. Bigger than the thefts by a pair of court clerks was the government cover up that persisted for at least a decade. We obtained documents showing two successive police chiefs had warned the mayor and fiscal officer of Arlington Heights that a substantial amount of cash was missing as far back as 2002. Rather than heeding those warnings, the elected leaders of Arlington Heights marginalized both police chiefs, who eventually resigned. Our ongoing investigation has directly resulted in: · Multiple felony indictments against two government employees for theft in office. · Passage and subsequent repeal of an illegal ban on television cameras in public council meetings. · The complete and permanent shut-down of the speed trap on I-75 through Arlington Heights, Ohio. · A call from the county prosecutor for the village to be dissolved and annexed into a neighboring city. · Committee passage of Ohio House Bill 523, eliminating mayors' courts in communities with fewer than 1,000 residents. · The adoption of a new public records policy for the Village of Arlington Heights, conforming with Ohio public records and open meetings laws. Chief Investigative Reporter Brendan Keefe successfully fought against a wall of resistance to obtain public documents and gain access to illegally-closed council meetings.
Tags: Theft; traffic fines; police chiefs; mayor; fiscal officer;
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Seattle Police:Vanishing Videos
This story began as a relatively simple venture; how to get copies of police dashboard camera videos to provide watchdog oversight of a police department facing growing criticism. It grew into a major expose of questionable police tactics and a battle for public access to critical public records that is currently before the state Supreme Court. Over the course of a year and a half, KOMO TV’s fight for videos and the video database became a game of strategy and attrition as the Seattle Police Department denied us access to public records at every opportunity. We tried every means at our disposal to get these records including direct appeals to elected officials. Finally, with no other recourse, KOMO TV sued the SPD and the city of Seattle. Only then did we make our fight for these records public. What followed in 2012 was a cascade of stories; people coming forward alleging police misconduct and an attempt to hide the videos that would tell the truth. In addition to KOMO TV’s public records lawsuit, our investigation has prompted state legislators and other open records advocates to pursue changes in state law to ensure these records can no longer stay hidden.
Tags: police; camera videos; SPD; Seattle Police Department; public records
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Access Denied
The Associated Press tested public right-to-information laws in the more than 100 countries that have them.
Tags: Freedom of Information; information; FOIA
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Salt Lake Tribune reporting, editorial stance, lobbying efforts to help keep Utah's open record law intact
In the waning days of the 2011 Utah Legislature, lawmakers quietly introduced House Bill 477, a measure designed to dramatically weaken the state's open records law, the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA), in effect for the past two decades. Work done by The Salt Lake Tribune led the way to the recall of HB477.
Tags: Utah; legislation; bill; house; lawmakers; open; records; law; public; records;
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Your Right to Know
A reporter for the Columbus Dispatch began publishing a blog designed to educate Ohioans about their rights to access public records and meetings. The blog is also used as a bully pulpit to point out government abuses in withholding records from the public and news media.
Tags: blog; open records; Sunshine Laws; FOIA; Freedom of Information Act; public records
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Reality Check: Where are the jobs?
As Indiana's unemployment rate soared, WTHR exposed how state leaders inflated official job statistics through a quasi-state agency shrouded in secrecy. Indiana's Economic Development Corporation claimed it had created 100,00 news jobs and billions of dollars in economic development deals for the state. When called upon to back up their numbers, the agency refused to grant detailed job information under the state's Access to Public Records Law.
Tags: employment; government; Economic Development Corporation; unemployment; jobs
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Full Disclosure
When the Daily Record used the state's new open records law, it created an open records website. Doing this published multiple public records based stories and investigations. One of the largest stories to come out of this was the compensation paid to the founders and operators of Angel Food Ministries Inc. This raised the question of what their earnings were being used for and if they were really an organization focused on helping the less fortunate.
Tags: FOIA; Angel Food Ministries Inc; charity; new open records law; records; public; access; documents; Wingo family; non-profit; Christian
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Pennsylvania Open Records
WTAE-TV detailed the "wasteful and abusive spending of public monies" at "Pennsylvania's state-run student loan agency." These stories and the two accompanying lawsuits showed how difficult it was to access records in Pennsylvania and established the "good case law."
Tags: FOIA; open records; PHEAA; loans; public records; open records law; Jess Stairs
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Do you know when and where your City Council is meeting?
"The report investigated how well Jacksonville City Council members followed Florida's Sunshine Law, which requires public officials to provide advance notice and access to meetings of two or more officials from the same board and commission. After the meeting, someone must record written minutes of the session." However in Jacksonville "dozen of meetings about public business [were] held without public notice or written minutes and several meetings that took place in private locations, which violated the city's ethics code and numerous Florida Attorney General opinions."
Tags: sunshine law; city council; Florida; editorials
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Hidden Dockets/ Secret Cases
In Florida hundreds of state cases have been hidden from the public for decades. "These cases included the divorces of politicians, judges, lawyers and businessmen, and the criminal cases of informants. Judges failed to obey public access law when sealing off those cases. In Miami, judges and prosecutors Miami also falsified public criminal court records, violating a state criminal statute and covering up evidence of embarrassing public corruption and an unsolved murder."
Tags: court; criminal cases; divorce; judges; murder; public access law; sealed cases; Miami; Florida