Governors, e-mail and open records

New in 2008!

We're inviting state political bloggers to participate in the Sunshine Blogger Project by sending an open records request to your governor for e-mails. This project will allow you to compare your governor to others in terms of their (a) ability and (b) willingness to provide citizens with electronically-stored public documents.

In 2007, several American governors were scrutinized for their ability to respond to open records requests--especially for copies of e-mails sent and received by gubernatorial staffs. In some cases, such as that of Missouri Governor Matt Blunt and Texas Governor Rick Perry, e-mail destruction became an issue. In the case of New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, the question was whether he was legally required to release e-mails he sent and received from a lobbyist with whom he had had a romantic relationship. In the case of Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, newspapers in Ohio criticized a GOP intern for sending the governor an open records request.

Governors who faced open records scrutiny in 2007 or 2008:

• Iowa Governor Chet Culver
• Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
• Missouri Governor Matt Blunt
• Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer
• New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine
• North Carolina Governor Mike Easley
• Ohio Governor Ted Strickland
• Texas Governor Rick Perry
• Wisconsin Governor James Doyle

See also:

Your Governor and Open Records