OIP Judicial Appeal Bill Passes House Judiciary
House Judiciary on Friday (March 16) passed out of committee a measure that creates a process for an agency to obtain judicial review of a decision made by the Office of Information Practices relating to open meetings and open records laws.
OIP Director Cheryl Kakazu Park said Senate Bill 2858 would give OIP a “uniform process” for dealing with agency appeals. Many state agencies said they support the measure.
But Bev Keever, a retired journalism professor, warned that SB 2858 will have “very likely dire consequences. The Legislature would effectively abdicate its responsibility to decide what is open and closed.”
Keever said SB 2858 will jam up the judicial system, but Park argued it would make the appeal process “a lot simpler, easier and expeditious.”
Cheryl Kakazu Park (at microphone) and Bev Keever (second from right).
