OPINION: Records custodians are first-line defenders of democracy

Records custodians are first-line defenders of democracy.

In villages, counties and state agencies across New Mexico, they hold public records in trust. When we need a car accident report or a school board meeting agenda, they provide it.

Every document they release gives a snapshot of what our government is doing. Together, those snapshots create a daily log of the actions taken by people in power. Democracy survives because of this openness. It dies when secrecy takes hold. That’s when corruption and abuse of office thrive.

This is why we are honoring records custodians during Sunshine Week, which ends March 21. Sunshine Week is a nationwide event celebrating government transparency, with a special focus on the two “Sunshine Laws” enacted in nearly every state. One law — called the Open Meetings Act in New Mexico — grants the public the right to observe elected leaders when they meet to decide public policy.

The other Sunshine Law governs public records. In New Mexico, it is called the Inspection of Public Records Act. It gives the public the right to request records generated by the government and sets the rules custodians must follow when providing those records.

These are the laws our nonprofit has spent nearly 40 years protecting and enforcing. We operate a helpline for the public so that when people encounter barriers to obtaining records or attending meetings, we can help them find solutions. And when the law is violated, we file lawsuits on behalf of the public.

Because we know that without these laws, bureaucracy has an inherent tendency toward secrecy, fostering a breeding ground for bribes, nepotism, fraud and power grabs.

New Mexico’s public records law recognizes its own importance in defending democracy. It states: “All persons are entitled to the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of government … and it is declared to be the public policy of this state that to provide persons with such information is an essential function of a representative government.”

Not that records custodians are thinking about any of this. They are way too busy.

Across the state, custodians report sharp increases in the number of requests they receive. Many have seen their workload rise by 30% to 50%. In some places, like Carlsbad, the increase has reached 200%.

They need solutions.

That’s why our nonprofit helped create a public records task force, which the Legislature endorsed during its recent session. The task force will examine ways to manage custodians’ workload without sacrificing transparency or public access to records.

Notice we said “manage” not “lessen.” The solution isn’t as simple as reducing the number of requests.

That’s because most records requests come from regular people. Any attempt to reduce requests might mean you, the public, couldn’t get the records you need. This would include losing free access to the one record individuals ask for the most: crash reports following a fender bender. People need these reports to give to their insurance companies so they can get their cars fixed.

But individuals are not the only ones requesting those reports. So do law firms, motor vehicle departments, medical insurers and other agencies. On average, a single crash report generates eight separate records requests.

The city of Santa Fe found a novel way to address this: It put minor crash reports online. The result was a decrease in workload for the records department and an increase in public access.

These are the kinds of solutions the task force will explore, examining whether similar technologies could be adapted for other cities, villages and counties.

And that spirit of “finding ways to strengthen transparency while making government work better” is what Sunshine Week is all about.

Happy Sunshine! 

Christine Barber is the executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.