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Louisiana legislator proposes
bill
to allow minors access to
public records
© 2004 Student Press Law Center
LOUISIANA (3/24/04) -- A state representative
is sponsoring an amendment to the Louisiana Public Records Act
that would give minors access to public records.
Louisiana is the only state that requires a person to be "of the age of majority" - 18 in Louisiana - to have access to public documents. This means that the state's high school journalists and students interested in open government can be denied access to public records if they are under the age of 18. "There shouldn't be any reason we would want to not share public information with someone who is less than 18 years old," said Rep. Tommy Wright, D-Jena, the sponsor of HB 492. Wright said he looked into the issue after a student contacted him about problems he had obtaining records from a local school board. Michael W. Barker, a politically active junior at Jena High School, made several open-records requests to the LaSalle Parish School Board for information related to technology the school system purchased. His requests, made in June of last year, were repeatedly ignored and finally denied, Barker said. Under state law, officials are not required to grant open-records requests to minors, but they are not prohibited from doing so either, according to Barker, who was 16 years old at the time he filed the requests. Barker finally obtained the documents in January, but only after an adult friend requested the records on his behalf. "This not only affects people like me who are interested in public policy, but it also affects student journalists. That's what the main concern for me is, that student journalists are not being allowed access to records because of their age," the 17-year-old said. After conducting some research, Barker discovered that Louisiana is the only state with such a law. He also found that the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research group, recommended in 2003 that the Louisiana Public Records Act be amended to grant minors access. Barker contacted Wright, hoping to spur on adoption of such an amendment. The amendment would allow any person access to public records, but those under 18 years of age would be allowed to receive only copies of requested records and will not be able to inspect the records where they are kept, Barker said. The Legislature will begin a new session March 29, and Wright expects the bill to be scheduled for a hearing in the House and Governmental Affairs Committee during the first week of April. Wright believes the bill has a good chance of passing, especially since Louisiana is the only state to deny minors access to public records. "[I] feel like it's important for uniformity throughout the United States, and [I feel like it's important for] minors to have equal rights," Wright said. Barker's biggest hope is that the bill passes. "I think that [passage of the bill] would show that Louisiana is concerned and that it is interested in allowing the young people of its state access to [public] records," Barker said. He wants the law to go into effect before his birthday on Sept. 24 so that he can make an open-records request while still a minor - and have his request granted. |
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