![[CREDIT: Rob Borklowski] Warwick City Hall on Post Road. The Warwick City Council's first meeting adjusts rules on meeting agendas, moving public comment one item later, and preserves a rule cited in a First Amendment Lawsuit against the Council.](https://e8dgfhu6pow.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Warwick-City-Hall.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&ssl=1)
![CREDIT: Rob Borklowski] Warwick City Hall on Post Road. The Warwick City Council March 24 meeting will consider adopting new public records charges and rules, which ACCESSRI has urged them to reject.](https://e8dgfhu6pow.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Warwick-City-Hall-336x252.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&ssl=1)
The House resolution is sponsored by Representatives Samuel Azzinaro (D – Dist. 37), Alex Finkelman (D-Dist. 74, Jamestown, Middletown), Deborah A. Fellela (D-Dist. 43 Johnston, Patricia A. Serpa (D-Dist. 27 West Warwick, Coventry and Warwick) Joseph McNamara (D-Dist. 19, Warwick and Cranston), Brian Kennedy (D-Dist. 38 Hopkinton and Westerly) and Ray Hull (D – Dist. 6, North Providence, Providence). It was introduced in February and referred to House State Government & Elections.
The Council resolution is sponsored by Councilman Bryan Nappa (D-Ward 3). Nappa was out off town Monday on vacation and did not immediately return an email seeking comment on the resolution.
The resolution, “PCR-34-25 A Resolution requesting the General Assembly to review and consider adopting amendments to the Public Records Laws as presented in 2025-H5457“will be considered during new business at tonight’s City Council meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers Warwick City Hall 3275 Post Road.
The ACLU of Rhode Island and ACCESSRI wrote to members of the City Council this morning urging them to reject the resolution, because it makes access to public records more difficult. ACCESSRI is a broad-based, non-profit freedom of information coalition dedicated to improving citizen access to the records and processes of government in Rhode Island. It consists of organizations that work on open government issues, including Common Cause RI, the ACLU of RI, the RI Press Association, the New England First Amendment Coalition, and the League of Women Voters of RI.
The ACCESSRI letter urges the council to reject the request for approval of PCR 34-25, because it weakens the standards contained in the state Access to Public Records Act (APRA).
ACCESSRI: Public Records Access Already Too Difficult
“We firmly believe that too many barriers currently exist in the public’s ability to obtain access to records that shed light on the activities of the state and municipal agencies that serve them. We are therefore deeply troubled by efforts such as those contained in H-5457 that seek to make access to government records more, rather than less, difficult by weakening the standards contained in the Access to Public Records Act (APRA), the ACCESSRI letter argues.
“As the resolution notes, the bill proposes to increase the maximum hourly costs beyond the first hour for document search and retrieval from $15 to $25 per hour, and to require a person to pay any outstanding balance owed for prior records requests before a new request will be processed.
Regarding the first proposed amendment, we believe the costs for obtaining records are already burdensome. In fact, federal law and those of a number of states provide for the waiver of any search and retrieval costs for records requests that are in the public interest. The proposed bill, by taking a contrary approach, could unfairly deter the submission of important public record requests.
Rather than viewing compliance with open records requests as a burden on public bodies, it should be seen as a core responsibility of government in promoting transparency and a key duty of any agency serving the public. The “time and resources involved for search and retrieval of requested documents” is, in our view, nothing more than the time and resources that should be expected in the City’s performance of the public’s business. Ultimately, these are the public’s records.”
Monday afternoon, Councilman Jeremy Rix said he felt an adjustment to the fees for public records searches, which does not appear to have been updated since the 1990s, may be reasonable, but he is mindful of ACCESSRI concerns about public access.
ACCESSRI: Payment Clause poorly worded, unnecessary
The letter also questions the need for the part of the bill that requires records be withheld from requesters if a prior records request bill is unpaid, an unlikely situation since many municipalities require payment up-front for records.
“In any event, the bill is very poorly worded and could be read, for example, as allowing agencies to hold up fulfilling a second request for records from a member of the public simply because an earlier request is pending.
We do not believe the residents of Warwick are looking to the City Council to support efforts to make access to the public’s business more difficult and more expensive to obtain rather than less so. Because this bill would amount to a step backwards in government accountability and transparency, we urge Council members to reject this resolution.”
Author: Rob Borkowski
Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at editor@warwickpost.com with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.
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