COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH

OVERSIGHT DIVISION



FISCAL NOTE



L.R. NO.: 3809-03

BILL NO.: Perfected SB 858

SUBJECT: Sunshine Law

TYPE: Original

DATE: March 8, 2000




FISCAL SUMMARY



ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON STATE FUNDS
FUND AFFECTED FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003
Total Estimated

Net Effect on All

State Funds

$0 $0 $0



ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON FEDERAL FUNDS
FUND AFFECTED FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003
Total Estimated

Net Effect on All

Federal Funds

$0 $0 $0



ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON LOCAL FUNDS
FUND AFFECTED FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003
Local Government $0 $0 $0

Numbers within parentheses: ( ) indicate costs or losses.

This fiscal note contains 5 pages.

FISCAL ANALYSIS



ASSUMPTION



Officials of the following agencies/offices/commissions stated their offices would not be directly impacted fiscally by this bill: Administration, Agriculture, Conservation, Elementary and Secondary Education, Higher Education, Transportation, Natural Resources, Revenue, Governor, Lt. Governor, Social Services, Attorney General, Courts, Administrator, Tax, Health, Economic Development, Gaming, Lottery, Chief Clerk of the House, Auditor, Treasurer, Labor and Industrial Relations, Public Defender, and Prosecution Services.



Officials of the University of Missouri, the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Mental Health noted that the proposal might provide a cause of action for additional litigation, which could have a fiscal impact depending on the amount and outcome of that litigation. For fiscal note purposes it is assumed that this would not be a direct impact of the proposal.



Officials of the Secretary of State stated:



"This proposed legislation imposes strict liability and penalties on public governmental bodies and their employees. Although this office does not purposefully violate the provisions of Chapter 610, the nature of our primary business is such that if this legislation passes we must enact office-wide request tracking to ensure 72 hour compliance and protect our employees from the imposition of fines."



"The Office of the Secretary of State is known as the "Information Place" and therefore receives an inordinate amount of requests for public information. During 1999, this office received and responded to approximately 750,000 requests for information which fall under the provisions of Chapter 610. Based on estimates from prior years, we anticipate the number of requests increasing by at least thirty (30) percent within the next year due to the expanded use and ease of requesting information via electronic and facsimile transmissions and an increase in public awareness regarding the vast information retained by the Secretary of State. If this office inadvertently misses the deadline on only 100 out of one million public information requests (.01%), the join and severable fines would be at least $50,000."



The Secretary of State would request four FTE (Range 17) to insure requests are identified and ASSUMPTION (continued)



fulfilled within three days. The four FTE would develop a specialty on Chapter 610 requests and would work in all areas of the office. Costs for the FTE would be approximately $200,000 per year.



Officials of the Department of Corrections stated:



"In addition to increasing the penalty provisions from a maximum civil fine of $500 to a range between $500 to $25,000, the proposal removes the requirement that the governmental body be found by a court to have purposely violated sections of the current statute. Instead the proposal establishes a statutory "presumption of a violation" if the original request for information was in writing. The likely result of these changes is to increase the frequency of requests and incidence of litigation."



"As the statute places the burden of persuasion on the agency to demonstrate compliance with each request, the DOC will establish the public information office as the agency's central collection point and clearinghouse for such requests. The DOC estimates the number of written requests for information processed through the department's legal office in excess of 300 per year and another ten e-mail inquiries received daily through the office of public information. Additional clerical support for this function will be required to ensure that all requests for information are processed and resolved in accordance with the provisions of the "sunshine request" statute."



"The DOC estimates that an additional clerical staff will be needed to document incoming requests, assist in compiling requested information and documenting the delivery of information to the requestor. The annual salary only for a Clerk Typists (sic) II is $19,452, not counting start-up and on-going expense and equipment"



"The DOC is unable to determine if a significant amount of additional legal expense will be incurred due to increased litigation. The DOC proposes to contract for legal services to assist in the preparation and presentation of evidence necessary to meet the burden of persuasion required by the statute."



DOC also notes that the Department would be requesting additional resources, if needed, through normal budgetary request procedures.



ASSUMPTION (continued)



Oversight notes that this proposal does not impose any additional duties except for the taking and making public of certain roll call votes.



Oversight also notes that although the proposal contains a presumption that a request for a record is valid under the "sunshine law" if the request contains a reference to the law, the proposal does not change any of the definitions of records which are subject to or exempt from the sunshine law. If a record or meeting is, in fact, exempt from sunshine law disclosure, then the presumption created under terms of this proposal would be rebutted.



Oversight assumes, for purposes of this fiscal note, that the proposal does not mandate increased litigation and that costs due to any permanent increase in the amount of litigation (and costs, if any, due to larger fines for violations of Chapter 610) would be matters for decision items in

agency budgets.





FISCAL IMPACT - State Government FY 2001

(10 Mo.)

FY 2002 FY 2003
$0 $0 $0



FISCAL IMPACT - Local Government FY 2001

(10 Mo.)

FY 2002 FY 2003
$0 $0 $0



FISCAL IMPACT - Small Business



No direct fiscal impact to small businesses would be expected as a result of this proposal.



DESCRIPTION



This proposal would require that roll call votes be taken and made public on matters where meetings themselves could be closed under the open meetings law. It would also: allow penalties to be assessed for any violation of the open meetings law (currently, penalties are only allowed if the violation is "purposeful"); increase maximum possible penalties for knowing violations of the law from $500 to $2,500; create a presumption of "knowing violation" whenever a jurisdiction receives a request in writing which references the sunshine law or any of sections 610.010 to 610.027.



DESCRIPTION (continued)



This legislation is not federally mandated, would not duplicate any other program and would not require additional capital improvements or rental space. This proposal would not affect Total State Revenue.



SOURCES OF INFORMATION



Office of Administration

Department of Agriculture

Department of Conservation

Department of Economic Development

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Department of Health

Department of Higher Education

Department of Transportation

Department of Insurance

Department of Labor and Industrial Relations

Department of Mental Health

Department of Natural Resources

Department of Public Safety

Department of Revenue

Department of Social Services

State Courts Administrator

State Tax Commission

Office of Prosecution Services

State Public Defender

Chief Clerk - House of Representatives

State Auditor

Governor

Lieutenant Governor

Secretary of State

State Treasurer

University of Missouri



Jeanne Jarrett, CPA

Director

March 8, 2000