Missouri State Officials Push For Stronger Public Records Law

Both Missouri Governor Jay Nixon — the longtime attorney general in the state — and Attorney General Chris Koster have backed an amendment to state law that, according to the prime buzz blog at the Kansas City Star, would:

. . . allow[] penalties against all government officials who violate the Sunshine Law, regardless of whether they do so knowingly.

A bill pending in a House committee would repeal Missouri’s current requirement for a judge to determine a public official or entity “knowingly” violated the Sunshine Law before a fine can be issued. Instead, it would allow up to a $500 fine for any violation, with higher fines for purposeful violations.

Unfortunately, I can’t find any reference to the $500 language in the only listed bill — found here — that fits the description and has the same sponsor, Republican Rep. Tim Jones, as listed in the blog post.  Maybe the legislation has changed since last updated on the Web site.

Regardless, the reason I raised the issue is that I think the requirement to determine the mental state of a public body is interesting.  Here’s a line from the penalty provision of the Missouri Sunshine law: “Upon a finding by a preponderance of the evidence that a public governmental body or a member of a public governmental body has knowingly violated sections 610.010 to 610.026, the public governmental body or the member shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount up to one thousand dollars.” Missouri Code 610.027.3.

Missouri Code 610.027.4 increases the maximum penalty for a purposeful violation to $5,000.  I would assume that the bill adds a provision allowing a $500 penalty for any violation — regardless of the mental state of the body.

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