Oklahoma open records advocates are concerned about proposed changes to Oklahoma State Department of Education administrative rules that would appear to alter how the agency approaches open records requests, a subject that’s gained the attention of Attorney General Gentner Drummond in recent months.
The executive state agency posted its proposed new rules on Tuesday. One section addresses the Oklahoma Open Records Act , with changes to the agency rules concerning the procedure for members of the public to request records, as well as updates concerning fees the agency can charge for the records and to a section regarding “processing and response times.”
One of the changes would delete a line in the section that requires the agency to fulfill open records requests “within a prompt and reasonable time.” Another change would seem to point record-seekers through a form on the agency website, instead of allowing an in-person visit to the agency during regular business hours. State agencies are required to have someone on-site during those hours who can address in-person requests.