Public records.

WORKING DRAFT

ORIGINAL SENATE
FILE

NO.
0025

ENROLLED ACT NO.
62
, SENATE

SIXTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2012 BUDGET SESSION

AN ACT relating to
public records; amending
and repealing
definitions; amending provisions relating to inspection of documents and exemptions from disclosure;
amending penalty provision
to provide a civil penalty
;

and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.
W.S. 16
‑
4
‑
201(a)(v)

and by creating
new paragraph
s
(ix)
and (x)
, 16
‑
4
‑
202(a) through (c), 16
‑
4
‑
203(d)
(xii), (xiii) and
by creating
new paragraph
s
(xiv)
, (xv) and (xvi)
and 16
‑
4
‑
205 are amended to read:

16
‑
4
‑
201.

Definitions.

(a)

As used in this act:

(v)

"
Public records
"
when not otherwise specified includes
the original and copies of any paper, correspondence, form, book, photograph, photostat, film, microfilm, sound recording, map drawing or other document, regardless of physical form or characteristics that have been made by the state of Wyoming and any counties, municipalities and political subdivisions thereof and by any agencies of the state, counties, municipalities and political subdivisions thereof, or received by them in connection with the transaction of public business, except those
privileged or confidential by law

any information
in a physical form
created, accepted, or obtained by

the s
tate
or any agency,
institution
or political subdivision
of the state

in furtherance of its official function and transaction of public business
which is not
privileged
or confidential by law
. Without limiting the foregoing, the term
"
public records
"
includes any written communication or other information, whether in paper, electronic, or other
physical form, received by
the state or
a
n
y
agency
, institution
or political subdivision
of the state
in furtherance of the transaction of public business of the
state
or
a
gency
, institution
or
political
subdivision
of the state
, whether at a meeting or outside a meeting
;

(ix)

"
Application
"
means a written
request
for a public record
. H
owever
,
a custodian may in his discretion deem a verbal request to be an application
;

(x)

"
Information
"
means opinions, facts, or data of any kind and in whatever physical form kept or maintained, including, but not limited to, wri
tten, aural, visual, electronic
or other physical for
m.

16
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4
‑
202.

Right of inspection; rules and regulations; unavailability.

(a)

All public records shall be open for inspection by any person at reasonable times,
during business hours of the state
entity

or political subdivision,
e
xcept as provided in this act or as otherwise provided by law, but the official custodian of any public records may make rules and regulations with reference to the inspection of the records as is reasonably necessary for the protection of the records and the prevention of unnecessary interference with the regular discharge of the duties
of the custodian or his office.

(b)

If the public records requested are not in the custody or control of the person to whom application is made,
the person shall forthwith notify the applicant of this fact

the custodian
or authorized person having personal custody and control of the public records
shall notify the applicant within seven (7) business days from the date of acknowledged receipt of the request of the
unavailability of the records sought, unless good cause exists preventing a response within such time period. In the event the applicant is not satisfied that good cause exists, the applicant may petition the district court for a determination as to whether the custodian has demonstrated good cause existed
.

(c)

If the public records requested are in the custody and control of the person to whom application is made but are in active use or in storage, and therefore not available at the time an applicant asks to examine them, the custodian
or authorized person having personal custody and control of the public records

shall notify the applicant of this situation

within seven (7) business days from the date of acknowledged receipt of the request
,
unless good cause exists preventing a response within such time period. In the event the applicant is not satisfied that good cause exists, the applicant may petition the district court for a determination as to whether the custodian has de
monstrated good cause existed
.
If a
public record
is readily available, it shall be released immediately to the applicant so long as the release does not impair or impede the agency
'
s ability to discharge
its other
duties
.

16
‑
4
‑
203.

Right of inspection; grounds for denial; access of news media; order permitting or restricting disclosure; exceptions.

(d)

The custodian shall deny the right of inspection of the following records, unless otherwise provided by law:

(xii)

Information regarding the design, elements and components, and location of state information technology security systems and physical security systems;

and

(xiii)

Records or information relating to individual diagnoses of contagious, infectious, communicable, toxic and genetic diseases maintained or collected by the
Wyoming
state veterinary laboratory as provided in W.S. 21
‑
17
‑
308(e)
;
.

(xiv)

Information concerning an agricultural operation, farming or conservation practice, or the land itself, if the information was provided by an agricultural producer or owner of agricultural land in order to participate in a program of the state or any agency, institution or political subdivision of the state. The custodian shall also deny the right of inspection to geospatial information maintained about the agricultural land or operations.
Provided, however, that if
otherwise permitted by law, the inspection of the information described in this paragr
aph shall be
allowed
in
accordance with the following:

(A)

T
he custodian may
allow the right of inspection when
responding to a disease or pest threat to agricultural operations, if the custodian determines that a threat to agricultural operations exists and the disclosure of information is necessary to assist in responding to the disease or p
est threat as authorized by law;

(B)

The custodian shall allow the right of inspection of payment information under a program of the state or of any agency, institution or political subdivision of the state, including the names and addresses of recipients of payments;

(C)

The custodian shall allow the right of inspection if the information has been transformed into a statistical or aggregate form without naming:

(I)

Any individual owner, operator or producer; or

(II)

A specific data gathering site.

(D)

The custodian shall allow the right of inspection if the disclosure of information is pursuant to the consent of the agricultural producer or owner of the agricultural land;

(E)

As used in this paragraph:

(I)

"
Agricultural operation
"
means the production and marketing of agricultural products or livestock;

(II)

"
Agricultural producer
"
means any producer of livestock, crops or dairy products from an agricultural operation.

(xv)

Within any record held by an agency, any income tax return or any individual information derived by the agency from an income tax return, however information derived from these documents may be released if sufficiently aggregated or redacted so that the persons or entities involved cannot be identified individually;

(xvi)

Except as required in a contested case hearing, any individual records involved in any workers’ compensation claim, however information derived from these documents may be released if sufficiently aggregated or redacted so that the persons or entities involved cannot be identified individually.

16
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4
‑
205.

Civil
p
enalty.

Any person who
willfully and

knowingly
or intentionally

violates the provisions of this act is
guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine
liable for a penalty

not to exceed seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00)
.

The penalty may be recovered in a civil action and damages shall be assessed by the court. Any action pursuant to this section shall be initiated by the attorney general or the appropriate county attorney.

Section 2
.

W.S.
16
‑
4
‑
201(a)(vii) is repealed
.

Section
3
. This act is effective July 1, 2012.

(END)

Speaker of the House

President of the Senate

Governor

TIME APPROVED: _________

DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the Senate.

Chief Clerk

1