New Mexico Foundation for Open Government audits cities for IPRA Compliance

ALBUQUERQUE — The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government (NMFOG) today released the results of its audit to determine compliance by municipalities with public records requests. The Inspection of Public Records Act requests (IPRAs) were sent by a third party to New Mexico’s 49 largest cities. The requester sought copies of any IPRA logs kept Read More …

FOG sends letter to lawmakers urging transparency in the state budget process

Today FOG sent each member of the New Mexico Legislature the following letter, insisting that the state budget be discussed in public, allowing citizens to hear the debate and weigh in on critical decisions affecting our state. We encourage you to contact your representatives and tell them you support an open budget process in accordance Read More …

FOG conducts IPRA Audit of Counties and State Agencies

The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, NMFOG, has released the results of its audit to determine compliance by state agencies and counties with public records requests. The Inspection of Public Records Act requests (IPRAs) were sent by a third party to 122 New Mexico agencies and boards and all of the state’s 33 counties. Read More …

Victory for open meetings in Court of Appeals decision

In a decision filed Thursday, the New Mexico Court of Appeals held that committees appointed by public bodies must comply with the Open Meetings Act (OMA), and even when meetings are closed due to the attorney-client privilege, substantial OMA requirements still must be met. The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government and the New Mexico Read More …

Sunshine Week AG Assessment

Enforcement of Sunshine Laws Under AG Balderas, During Sunshine Week FOG assesses AG responses to complaints, by Susan Boe, FOG Executive Director. After a bumpy start by his open government division, Attorney General Hector Balderas and his staff have issued almost three dozen opinion letters in the last three months in response to complaints about Read More …

Sunshine Week Legislative Recap

Recent Legislative Session Casts Shadow on Sunshine Week, Editorial by New Mexico Foundation for Open Government President Greg Williams. Closed-door budget talks and a failed effort to create a transparent ethics commission largely shaded the recent New Mexico Legislative session from sunlight, but 2016 did see two incremental victories for transparency. Sunshine Week is March Read More …

FOG Meets With Ukrainian Delegation

FOG’s Shannon Kunkel was honored to have the opportunity to speak with visitors from Ukraine on Thursday. The visitors were in Santa Fe as part of a program offered by the Center for International Relations and the U.S. State Department. They had a range of experience and came from various cities within Ukraine, but most Read More …

Join us for our fifth-annual CLE!

Public Records and Open Meetings: Looking for Sunlight! Register for FOG’s fifth-annual Continuing Legal Education seminar for attorneys, public officials, journalists and citizens. Approval pending for 6 continuing education credits, including 1 ethics credit. Continuing Legal Education Thursday, May 5, 2016 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Albuquerque Journal 7777 Jefferson St. NE Albuquerque, NM 87109 Read More …

FOG Sends Letter to Legislative Leadership

FOG has received complaints from the media and the public following a closed-door meeting of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee. As a result, FOG has emailed and hand delivered a letter to Speaker of the House Don L. Tripp and Senate President Pro Tempore Mary Kay Papen urging the Legislature to (1) clarify ambiguous language Read More …

2015 FOG Year In Review

Your generosity and enthusiasm for transparency have helped make FOG’s 25th-anniversary year a tremendous success. FOG fights for your right to know throughout New Mexico, and we do it on an annual budget of just over $100,000, with only our full-time executive director, Susan Boe; our part-time membership director, Shannon Kunkel; and our panel of Read More …