Transparency in New Mexico took one important step forward on the last day of Sunshine Week, as the state Legislature moved to increase notice of public meetings across the state.

House Bill 21 (read it here), sponsored by Rep. Jim Smith (R-Sandia Park) and Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto (D-Albuquerque), requires public bodies to post the agendas of their meetings 72 hours in advance. (Yes, weekends co... Read More

The New Mexico state constitution does not give state lawmakers any special exemption from the open records law that has applied to all public officials since 1994, despite claims to the contrary by state representatives. That's according to an NMFOG analysis of HCR 1, a proposal to shield lawmakers' email from disclosure under the  Inspection of Public Records Act. The measure i... Read More

To err is human; to be transparent about it, divine. It's no surprise that from time to time, officials make mistakes in conducting public meetings. But when mistakes are made, the public deserves to see those mistakes addressed and corrected as quickly as possible, the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government says.

Any member of the public can notify a public body--such as a ci... Read More

It has long been our understanding that a public record is a public record no matter where it is physically located—whether a report sits in a filing cabinet in the office or in an employee’s briefcase at home, for example.

These days we all have fewer pieces of paper in filing cabinets and briefcases and more documents sitting in our laptops, phones—and in the cloud. But th... Read More