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In fact, more governments are working to update laws to reflect the changing environment.
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Policies, procedures, and general knowledge regarding public records simply hasn’t caught up yet.
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Nowadays, it is commonplace to rely on text messaging as a mode of work communication. The truth is, when public records laws and department policies were drafted, text messages either weren’t in existence yet or they weren’t in vogue. The response from the state departments was varied, and mostly incomplete or without context if they released records at all. As a test of North Carolina’s adherence to records law, various media outlets requested texts made by state officials. Likewise, messages sent on private devices regarding public issues are still part of the public record-IF agencies are lucky enough to track them down. Getting an accurate estimate of SMS messages that are public record is problematic, as the number of government-issued phones is unknown. As the Knoxville News Sentinel states, “Without ready help from phone carriers or a program designed to make the process efficient, state officials say that providing text messages in response to public records requests is cumbersome and time-consuming.” It is exactly what North Carolina’s agencies faced when record requests began increasing for text messages sent and received by the state’s top officials. Regardless of your commitment to transparency, text records are simply difficult to track down, bundle together, and process. Is dealing with text records a hopeless affair, or is there a better way forward?Īgencies all across the country are having issues processing the requests for relevant text messages. Alas, the course of true love transparency never did run smooth. Text messages are the ogre in your records request fairy tale. They’re unwieldy, they’re hard to track down, and they eat up precious work hours.