Can some public records be withheld from a requester?
The General Assembly has passed a number of laws that protect certain records by either requiring or allowing a public office to withhold them from public release. Where a public office uses one of these “exceptions,” the office may only withhold a record or part of a record clearly covered by the exception and must tell the requester what legal authority it is relying on to withhold the record. If only part of a page, audiotape or image is protected by an exception, then the public office must redact (obscure or delete) only that part of the record and provide the unprotected remainder to the requester. The General Assembly can change the preceding rights and duties for any particular records, for particular public offices, for particular requesters or in specific situations. In other words, the general rules of public records law may be modified in a variety of ways. In applying the Public Records Act, the courts interpret the act and any claimed exceptions in favor of disclosure.
