The Indiana Publisher

Page 7 December 2021 to publish a notice will be given the same state-mandated discount that government units receive. Increased visibility of public notices for citizens: Publications will be required to upload public notices to a state- wide aggregated public notice website where notices can be searched by county, municipality, newspaper, or search words. Published public notices concerning court cases will be required to be uploaded to the Indiana Supreme Court's MyCase platform. This will mean attor- neys will get an alert when the required notice has been pub- lished. HSPA will coordinate with the Indiana Supreme Court as to an acceptable verification sys- tem that will satisfy due process requirements. The draft will address how notices should be published in counties where no newspaper exists. This currently isn't a part of the statute and Indiana cur- rently has two counties that lack a newspaper as defined by the law. The legislation will make "locality newspapers" eligible to carry public notices of counties. This will increase the number of readers who will receive the pub- lished notices. Transition to digital public notice requirement: Print publication will be replaced by digital publication in five years (2027). This aligns with the state's efforts to increase broadband speed and availability throughout the state. Digital public notice landscape: Public notices shall be pub- lished on the websites of local journalistic entities. They will not be placed behind paywalls to increase public accessibility. Eligibility criteria to carry public notices will allow for flexibility in business models for the journalis- tic business, but require a commit- ment for these entities to report the news of a community. This also ensures the integrity of the process as the journalistic entity shall be required to verify the digital pub- lication for payment. Taking the distribution out of he hands of a government unit prevents the state from creating a "fox guarding the henhouse" situation. The complicated line rate for- mula for printed public notices that caps what state and local gov- ernment units can be charged for public notices will be replaced by a simple per word cost. This will allow an agency to easily estimate the cost before it submits a public notice. This cap will be allowed to increase or decrease depending on an inflation metric, such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Public notices will be required to be posted on the websites for several months to increase the opportunity for Hoosiers to be made aware of the information. This replaces print requirements where publication is done either once, twice or three times. HSPA will coordinate with the Indiana State Library and State Archives to create a system to make sure public notices are pre- served for historical reference. Summary: The proposed legislation moves the public notice pro- cess from print to digital while maintaining the integrity of due process and government transpar- ency. It also addresses cost issues raised by local government and private parties. It recognizes how Hoosiers' news consumption hab- its are changing while preserv- ing the element of independence needed in the distribution process of notices. The following questions were submitted by the The Indianapolis Star, Tribune-Star (Terre Haute), and Arkansas Press Association: I filed a request with the Office of the Inspector General for, among other items, hotline tips associated with a former gov- ernment employee. The office declined to provide any docu- ments, stating "if documents exist regarding a hotline com- plaint or investigation where probable cause has not been found, our office does not dis- close such documents." They consider it an investiga- tive record under IC 4-2-7-8, which they have a choice to dis- close. I'm not certain it would fall under that category. I'm not see- ing any Public Access Counselor opinions on that specific question, but I assume it would qualify as such, because under 5-14-3, it's defined as "an agency or a depart- ment of any level of government that engages in the investigation, apprehension, arrest, or prosecu- tion of alleged criminal offend- ers." What would that mean if it is considered a law enforcement agency? It means its investiga- tory records may be kept confidential at the discre- tion of the inspector general. My follow up with the PAC though would be if it's a law enforcement agency, then isn't the inspector general subject to the daily log or record provision of APRA - look at IC 5-14-3-5(c). I would argue that would apply unless there's some specific language addressing the availability of records in the statute creating the office of inspector general. All public school curriculum would be public record, right? Test and test questions would not be available, but documents outlining curriculum policy and textbook selection should be available. There would be copyright issues as to posting of textbooks. I'm not well versed as to what type of records are collected. Is there a law in your state that requires open public meetings to be recorded? The Arkansas legislator who sponsored the bill here is ask- ing me to poll my counterparts, as she is at a conference and would like to suggest this legislation for the states that don't currently require it. Indiana does not require the recording of public meetings. I'm confident the argument against such a legisla- tive proposal from the associations representing different levels of gov- ernment units would be the cost of equipment, set up, archiving, post- ing on the Internet, etc., would be prohibitive. I don't know if any states have such a requirement. I do believe at least one state requires the recording of executive sessions, so there is a record that a judge could review when there are chal- lenges as to whether the subject matter discussed was eligible for a closed-door session. Send your questions to Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, skey@hspa.com or call (317) 803-4772. Q Some of a school's curriculum are available as public records HSPA Legal Hotline Q Records may be kept confidential at the inspector general's discretion A Public Notice Continued from Page 1 A Indiana does not require recording of public meetings Q A

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