Ivey signs bill putting response deadlines in state's weak open records law
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Wednesday signed legislation that would put response deadlines in the state’s weak open records law.
Alabama’s public records law says any citizen has the right to inspect and take copies of public writings, except for those exempted by law. However, until the new law, it did not provide deadlines for public entities to respond to a request.
The new law will require a public records officer to acknowledge the receipt of a simple request within 10 days. The public records officer would have to “provide a substantive response” saying the request is being fulfilled or denied within 15 additional business days, although time frame could be extended in 15-day increments.
Public entities would be given more time to respond to requests that would require more than eight hours of work to fulfill.