Louisiana update, UO lags Africa on public records access

8/14/2013 update: Oregon’s public record situation is also worse than Lousiana’s:

A Louisiana university was found in contempt of court Wednesday for its failure to produce records related to its recent presidential search. 

The order of contempt — and $500 per day fine that accompanied it — is the latest in a months-long legal battle between Louisiana State University and media outlets in the state over records related to the presidential search that hired F. King Alexander.

A closed search for a university president? Shocking.

4/14/2013. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights reports that 11 of 54 African states now have FOIA type laws. The model legislation is here. It requires agencies to publish their policies and procedures for handling public records requests. I have asked UO public records officers Dave Hubin and Lisa Thornton several times to provide this information for their office. They’ve ignored me, so I made a public records request for the info on March 28. Now they are ignoring that too.