An audit of open government practices in Rhode Island has found that six municipalities and 10 out of 24 surveyed state and quasi-public agencies are seemingly in violation of the Access to Public Records Act (APRA) by failing to certify that they have any employees trained to grant or deny public record requests.

For almost a year now, state-level agencies in New Jersey have been rejecting all requests for their logs of public records requests made under the state’s Open Public Records Law. Now, thanks to last week’s Superior Court ruling, that’s about to change.

After two responses claiming no docs existed, the San Jose Police Department has finally dug out receipts and grant applications for its hazmat drone purchased in January 2014.

MuckRock User Evan Anderson requested emails between the Commonwealth Fusion Center and private security firms. Apparently, there is something there, because the request came back with a $250 price tag. Help get the emails with a new crowdfunding campaign.

The MuckRock 50 States of FOIA Project aims to shed light on what it’s like to work with public records around the U.S., through the voices of requesters state by state. Today we look at Utah.

Nestled among the thousands of heavily scrubbed FBI drone documents is one particularly audacious redaction - the Bureau considers its review of drone privacy risks too sensitive for public release.

Right now, there are over 128,000 people on United States soil being held in privately-operated correctional facilities. Financially dependent on the government and hired to enforce the burden of public justice, these private prisons are nonetheless not subject to FOIA.

CIA refuses to release emails unless to, from, and subject lines are provided - or in other words, “You can’t see any emails or know who sent or received them. But you must request the exact email and who sent and received it.”

When MuckRock user Anais Vaillant requested the most recent amusement park ride inspections in Florida, they were informed that no such reports exist - most major parks are exempt from federal safety oversight. What they did have, was the injury reports that are voluntarily submitted by these exempted facilities - and they were more than happy to provide them

The MuckRock 50 States of FOIA Project aims to shed light on what it’s like to work with public records around the U.S., through the voices of requesters state by state. We kick things off today with Iowa.

First comes love, then comes your routing number, then comes the FTC with the FTC investigation.

A month after receiving a grant to purchase a hazmat drone, San Jose Police Department replied that it had no documents pertaining to unmanned aerial vehicles.

In their book The Art of Access: Strategies for Acquiring Public Records, Charles Davis and David Cuillier give the example of requesting cafeteria complaints as a sort of “test” to get a feel for how an agency responds to FOIA. Jason Smathers tried this out on the CIA … and well, the rest is history.

Newly released city council documents give insight into how a warm welcome became a cold shoulder for the popular hot sauce brand.

The Department of the Treasury always flies business class, the marines almost never, and since 2011 employees of the VA who were allowed to fly premium (either business or first class) have only flown in first.

MuckRock is thrilled to dive into “The Spy in Your Pocket” – your overwhelming support allowed us to beat our initial funding goal, and we’re now poised to investigate cell phone surveillance across the country!

The NYPD has finally released its patrol guide, which includes a chapter on public records requests. The unit charged with processing such requests swore no such guide existed.

A month before Comcast announced its planned $45 billion merger with fellow cable giant Time Warner, the company’s vice president of legislative affairs invited one of the government’s top antitrust lawyers to a private party for the Sochi Olympics opening ceremony.

The lawyer, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Renata Hesse, regrettably declined the invitation, placing the blame on those “rules folks.”