Arizona First Amendment Coalition

Local government officials, journalists and active citizens will debate the freedom of information, the public’s right to monitor their government through access to public records and open meetings, at a public forum in Bullhead City.

The public is invited to the forum, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Bullhead City Elementary School District headquarters board room, 1004 Hancock Road, Bullhead City.

The event is sponsored by the First Amendment Coalition of Arizona Inc., a consortium of the state’s news media, and supported by a grant from the National Freedom of Information Coalition. Admission is free and refreshments will be served.

The right of access is often pitted against interests such as privacy, confidentiality and the best interests of the state, which under Arizona law provide exceptions to that access, said Mark Scarp, immediate past president of the coalition.

“All too often, members of the general public aren’t as aware as they should be that they have the same right as the news media to request, inspect and copy public records and attend public meetings,” said Scarp, who will be the forum’s moderator.

“Just as often, many people working in government are either unaware of or officially act contrary to the fact that public records belong to the public. Arizona’s Public Records Law generally guarantees that right of inspection to ‘any person’,” Scarp said.

The panel discussion, which will conclude with questions from the audience, is expected to include: Neil Young, reporter, Mohave Valley Daily News; Steve Johnson, public information officer for the city of Bullhead City; Darryl Purcell, public information officer, Mohave County; Charlie Cassens, public information officer, city of Lake Havasu City; Lance Ross, public information officer, Valley View Medical Center; Paul Lavoie, news radio journalist; and Dan Barr of the Phoenix law firm of Perkins Coie Brown & Bain, P.A., media law attorney for the coalition.

The coalition is made up of representatives from the statewide newspaper, broadcasters and cable telecommunications associations, the Arizona Press Club and the Valley of the Sun chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

For more information, please contact Scarp at phoenixspj@cox.net.

Rule 123, Rules of the Supreme Court of Arizona, governs public access to records maintained by the judiciary. The foundation of the Rule is that court records should be open to everyone. But exactly what information should be available to the public online for individual cases? Should certain users be authorized to directly access case management databases in real time, such as government agencies, government contractors, commercial agencies subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the news media, or research organizations? If so, what standards and processes are needed to qualify for such access? The Advisory Committee on Supreme Court Rule 123 and Data Dissemination examines these and other issues in their final report: http://supreme.state.az.us/Rule123/Rule%20123%20%20DDA%20Committee%20Report%20v4.pdf.

The Arizona Court of Appeals on Thursday told the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office that it had to pay legal fees for a lawsuit over failing to produce public records in a timely manner.

A lower court had awarded the fees to the Tucson Citizen newspaper, even though the Sheriff's Office maintained that the initial records request had been made to a different agency.

But the court determined the Sheriff's Office had delayed disclosure of the records to the Citizen and ordered the office to pay more than $25,000. Read more here.

The Arizona Supreme Court announced its changes to Supreme Court Rule 122, which governs the use of cameras in the courtroom. The changes become effective January 1, 2009. While the decision to permit cameras still rests with the discretion of the trial judge, the judge must now make written findings if he or she prohibits camera coverage and must state that camera coverage poses a likelihood of harm. The judge's decision can now be appealed through a special action to the Court of Appeals. A link to the text of the newly amended Rule 122.

Arizona Ombudsman-Citizens' Aide office finally releases their 2007 annual report on September 19, 2008. You can access it here: http://www.azleg.gov/ombudsman/2007AnnualReport.pdf.

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