The Fight for Access to Government Records round Two: Enter the Computer

Federal, state, and local governments are converting public records to computer formats at a rapid pace, creating novel issues with respect to public access. Record requesters are finding access laws, written when most documents were on paper and stored in file cabinets, inadequate when applied to requests for records held in government computers. As a result, requesters have turned to the courts to define the contours of public access in the computer age. Several court cases suggest government agencies are using the fact information is in a computer as an excuse to withhold records. This paper underlines the need to rewrite access laws to acknowledge the pervasive role of computers in government. It proposes a fifteen-point approach to computerized information to help guide the public and media in their quest to ensure computers are used to enhance public access, not undermine it.