The Forum

Throughout several recent issues, the Forum has explored stories related to citizens' rights to access information. We have reported on the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) which allows citizens to access public records of government bodies. We have reviewed the Missouri Sunshine Law, which is Missouri's state-level version of FOIA. Similar to FOIA, Missouri Sunshine Law allows citizens access to public meetings and records of government entities in the state of Missouri. We have also highlighted individuals and organizations that are on the front lines of the movement to increase access to information, allowing members of communities throughout Missouri to hold their elected officials accountable.

Established in 1973, the Missouri Sunshine Law maintains that all meetings, votes, deliberations, actions, and records of public governmental bodies may be accessed by members of the public unless a specific legal exemption is applicable. In recent decades, Missouri's Sunshine Law has been at the center of conflict and controversy for multiple legislators and administrations. Citizens throughout the state, including attorneys, have found that obtaining public documents by way of submitting Sunshine Law requests can be timely, expensive, and often impossible. Missouri's Sunshine Law applies to each of the three branches of government, the legislative, executive and the judicial, although the governor recently signed an amendment to the law that redacts the names of all court personnel from any responsive documents and limits access, allowing for the release of only administrative judicial records. Anyone can request access to public records in the state of Missouri, whether they are a resident of the state or not. The Sunshine Law in Missouri allows for financial penalties that may total up to $1,000 for small infractions that are unintentional and up to $5,000 for willful violations that are "knowing or purposeful."

There are no mechanisms for appeal of agency decisions to withhold all or portions of records in Missouri. Requestors may file a complaint with the state Attorney General's office, but many have typically sought remedy through litigation in a court of law as enforcement from the AG's office has historically been minimal or nonexistent. An increasing number of cases have successfully favored the document requestors in recent years, requiring state government agencies to fulfill requests, and pay attorney's fees, court costs, and fines. A recent ruling in a case that ended after ten years of litigation saw the judge order the Cole County prosecutor's office to pay legal fees for attorney Dave Roland of the Freedom Center of Missouri (FCMo), which brought the total costs to a sum of at least $189,000.

Since we have touched on many aspects of citizen’s access to public records in recent months, we thought it might be helpful to take a look at the state of requesting public records in Missouri and some other states throughout the U.S. Though states' public records laws are similar in that they are generally patterned after the federal FOIA, the names for state statutes can vary from one state to another. Missouri shares the title of ‘Sunshine Law’ for its public records statute with the states of Florida, Wyoming, and South Dakota. Other well-known state laws include New York state’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). Maryland and Texas have the Public Information Act (PIA). The Open Records Act is used in several states such as Kentucky, Nevada, Georgia, Oklahoma, Kansas, North Dakota, Ohio, Iowa, and Colorado (CORA). While more than several other states including Louisiana, Vermont, Massachusetts, Washington, Nebraska, Idaho, and Mississippi accept requests filed under the law simply called the Public Records Request law.

To date, there is no official national ranking of state’s responsiveness to public records requests. However, a recent study completed in November of this year by Logikcull surveyed governmental bodies' responses to public records requests in each state of the country. Research first found that more than half of the agencies failed to respond at all to record requests. Agencies across the United States were shown to have simply ignored requests which were confirmed to have been received. Notably, Missouri scored a “poor” rating in Logikcull’s research findings due to extended response timeframes or complete lack of agency response to requests. Agencies of the most significant interest for records requestors in Missouri included the St Louis Metropolitan Police Department, St Louis County Police Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP). MSHP is a component of the Missouri Office of Public Safety. This shows the considerable interests citizens have in the internal functions and outcomes of the actions of their local and state law enforcement agencies.

Response times and responsiveness to requests varies across the state of Missouri, depending on the agency. Average response times and responsiveness to requests also vary significantly from state to state. Comparisons among Missouri and other Sunshine Law states such as South Dakota, Florida and Wyoming highlight some key differences and similarities. While Missouri’s 3-day response time is the shortest of the ‘sunshine states’, Florida and South Dakota have no statutory deadline for required response. While Wyoming provides up to 30 days to receive a response. All four state laws cover each of the three branches of government, including the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. According to Chapter 610 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri (RSMo), the presumption of openness is foundational to requests and the fulfillment of records requests in the state. Transparency is promoted, and exemptions are intended in the law to be narrowly interpreted. Agencies are required to cite specific legal authorities whenever withholding or redacting documents. As is the case in Missouri, the presumption of openness is also central to the public records laws of Florida, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

MuckRock.com reports that as of August 2024, a total of 1,670 Sunshine Law requests had been filed in Missouri. 577 were reported to have been successfully completed, with 133 rejected, 355 determined to have responsive documents available that the requestor may access, and 140 requests that are overdue and have been left unfilled.

Research also completed in 2025 by Selin and Butcher found that agencies that were most likely to comply with records requests were those within states that have strong enforcement structure in place such as clear response deadlines, administrative appeals, solid fines, sanctions and complaint processes or support and oversight mechanisms such as committees or ombudsman. Agencies least likely to comply were those consistently identified across the country as law enforcement, healthcare, and entities of commerce.

National disparities in responses to public records requests show the importance of public awareness and education in our communities. It is imperative that citizens have the ability to gain insight into the functions of their local, state, and federal governments. The Forum is committed to ensuring that members of our campus community and surrounding areas are well informed and prepared to fully engage our civic interests and duties. We look forward to continuing to provide our readers with access to the information that matters.