Public records requests are up big time, according to a newly released report by government software solutions company Granicus. Since 2018, public records requests are up 74% and the concerning thing about this is that the total time to process requests has grown by a considerably larger 112%.
This data comes as a part of Granicus’ Public Records Complexity Report, which tries to uncover more factors involved in completing records requests than just their volume. Processing speed for government agencies has been a struggle due to new requirements, new media types, and growing file sizes, all coupled with the increase in volume.
The survey found that the volume of video files have just about doubled since 2018, with an increase in the availability of new media like police body cam footage. Not only that, but the file sizes of the completed requests have ballooned by more than 200%.
It’s been difficult for many government offices to keep up with these rapid changes, in part because it’s no secret that staffing and technology budgets haven’t increased in proportion to the added complexity of completing records requests.
There has been plenty of pushback from the public and open records advocates on the feeling that public records are becoming less accessible. Florida was involved in a six year legal battle over how the responsibility of redacting sensitive information like social security numbers had led to the end of ‘on-receipt’ access to records.
There’s a difficult balance to be struck as open records are such a vital part of our democracy, but the requests also have the potential to grind offices to a halt. It’s not just court records that are driving these increases either. Geauga County, Ohio’s public health department is going to spend $100,000 on public records requests this year, which prevents them from hiring another nurse. Guilford County, North Carolina is still wading through requests related to the 2020 election. In Guilford’s case, County Elections Director Charlie Collicutt points to another change in requests in that, “All of the requests involved the 2020 election and none of them were from people in Guilford County.”
As the country becomes more connected, there is a much larger pool of people who may request records. With the United States’ midterm elections coming up, the requests are ramping up as well. County officials across the country have complained of requests that appear to be copied and pasted or types of requests that have never been satisfied before. Whether or not this could be a strategy to bog down officials or a legitimate surge in interest, the requests are taking over what would otherwise be top priorities. Lycoming County, Pennsylvania’s director of elections and registration, Forrest K. Lehman, summed up a litany of complaints published in the New York Times last week by asking, “How is the November midterm election the third or fourth thing on my radar? It should be number one.”
So what’s a county recorder, election official, or other swamped public office to do with all of these requests? If you need to eliminate personally identifiable information from documents before they’re released to the public, you probably won’t be surprised to hear a company with an automated solution for redaction to advise you to take a look at our product.
Of course, there are other options as well. Likely to the chagrin of open records activists, Mendocino County in California decided that they would charge fees for public records (after eventually adding a provision to exempt new organizations from the fees). Mendocino officials echoed sentiments we’ve heard before, saying that requestors, many from out of state, are abusing the ability to request these records.
Better processes, including automation, will certainly be able to help with the unpredictable, but increasing volume of these requests. In the end though, common ground will have to be found between citizens and the government, navigating big issues like duplicative requests so the public can stay informed, and our officials can deliver on their responsibilities.
The full report by Granicus and more information about their government services can be found here.
If you’re interested in learning more about Extract’s automated redaction software, ID Shield, please reach out with a call or email and we’d be happy to help.
(*Disclosure: Granicus is a partner of Extract)
About the Author: Chris Mack
Chris is a Marketing Manager at Extract with experience in product development, data analysis, and both traditional and digital marketing. Chris received his bachelor’s degree in English from Bucknell University and has an MBA from the University of Notre Dame. A passionate marketer, Chris strives to make complex ideas more accessible to those around him in a compelling way.