Changes announced for N.J.’s government-documents agency
The Christie administration announced changes Monday to the operations of an agency that handles requests for government documents, six weeks after The Inquirer detailed the agency’s lack of transparency.
The Government Records Council (GRC) adjudicates appeals when local and state government officials deny requests for public information. Although it is supposed to be the state’s final arbiter on what is public information – from political information to police reports – it has acted in a manner far less public than other governmental bodies.
In 2010, Gov. Christie’s office rejected a request from The Inquirer about the governor’s e-mails and travel records. The newspaper appealed to the GRC, and the case was heard in spring 2012. As documented in a first-person article last month, an Inquirer reporter wasn’t given advance notice about the hearing. (Katz, The Philadelphia Inquirer)
