What Sunshine requests have revealed

Missouri's open meetings and records act is aimed at keeping government open to the public.

The so-called Sunshine Law helps those curious about campaign donations, needing information about property issues or wanting to attend government meetings.

The law is a tool used by the media, including the Southeast Missourian, to shed light on how appointed and elected officials make decisions and spend tax dollars.

The newspaper has used Sunshine Law requests for stories on the Joshua Kezer conviction -- the Scott County murder case reopened after evidence and testimony was called into question. The public gained insight on admitted serial killer Timothy Krajcir after files were made public. The law revealed the reason Cape Girardeau County commission asked another elected official, the county auditor, to resign. When Southeast Missouri State University complied with an open meetings request, the media reported on NCAA violations.

Public information can be requested or obtained in many ways, either online, by simply asking for it or submitting a written request. Federal agencies must follow the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

State law requires a response to a Sunshine request within three business days. In some cases, records are made available immediately; at times a government official will either ask for more time to locate information or deny the request altogether. A denial must be delivered in writing and include the reason, based on a specific section of the Sunshine Law, for keeping the record closed.

In May, Cape Girardeau and Jackson school districts showed compliance when the Southeast Missourian sent requests to both for information about teachers, administrators and staff, such as building location, job title, annual salary, number of contract days worked and ways they earn extra compensation. The Cape Girardeau School District asked for additional time and provided the information requested within seven business days; the Jackson School District complied within three business days.

In cases where the records are a mixed bag of open and closed information -- such as certain types of police reports -- the state allows the closed information to be blocked out or deleted from the record but requires the remaining information to be made public.

Law enforcement agencies follow the Sunshine Law by releasing incident reports, published daily in the Southeast Missourian. Probable-cause statements, which reveal why a person was arrested, are also public records.

At times, the release of information is negotiated or denied altogether.

In May, the Southeast Missourian made two requests for all e-mails sent between members of Missouri State Highway Patrol pertaining to the Joshua Kezer case. After one week, the highway patrol requested a 10- to 15-day extension and has since requested a second extension.

The Cape County Transit Authority initially rejected the newspaper's June 12 request for financial documents. After two meetings between Tom Mogelnicki, the transit authority's executive director, and newspaper editors, a month-by-month breakdown of expenditures and revenue was released. The transit authority's board of directors has hired an attorney to decide what else should be made public.

Two Southeast Missourian requests for the Cape Girardeau Police Department's incident report after the shooting death of Zachary Snyder were denied. The information was sequestered in an investigative report.

The Cape Girardeau County Commission released records showing the county auditor's Web site visits in response to the newspaper's April 20 Sunshine request but not the letter he allegedly signed in 2007 admitting to violations and promising to resign if it happened again.