AZ Supreme Court Opens Door for Public Research Into Agency Records

In a step forward for government transparency, the Arizona Supreme Court last month invalidated a lower court’s decision that had broadly blocked access to certain records at the Arizona Department of Economic Security unless requested for “educational, administrative, or scientific purposes.” The Goldwater Institute had filed a brief urging the state high court to protect access to those records.

Investigative journalist Amy Silverman, with the help of the Arizona State University First Amendment Clinic, has been trying to gain access to certain anonymized public records from the department for years. She is trying to analyze how the department treats vulnerable adults under its care, but she has encountered stiff resistance from the state.

Fortunately, Arizona’s Public Records Law broadly requires the disclosure of public records, with limited exceptions. And exceptions intended to protect the privacy of vulnerable adults receiving Department of Economic Security services cannot be used to shield access to agency records when personally identifying information has already been redacted.

So when Silverman’s case landed in the Arizona Supreme Court, the Goldwater Institute filed a brief supporting her argument that the agency must disclose such documents to “[a]ny person engaged in bona fide research,” which includes journalists and other members of the public that seek the records in good faith.

The Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling generally agrees with this assertion, clarifying that “bona fide research” in this context means to “engage in a good faith and genuine study to acquire more knowledge, discover new facts, or test new ideas concerning reporting or stopping the abuse, exploitation or neglect of vulnerable adults.” Thus journalists—or other members of the public—cannot be categorically prohibited from accessing these public records.

Although the court sent Silverman’s case back down for additional proceedings, the ruling is a positive development for transparency in the Grand Canyon state. The Goldwater Institute remains hopeful that Silverman will ultimately prevail in her case, and we will continue to hold government entities accountable when they try to hide information from the public.

You can read more about this case here. Click here to read how you can utilize public records laws to learn more about your local government.

Parker Jackson is a Staff Attorney at the Goldwater Institute.