What is the Sunshine Blogger Project?

It is a 2008 effort to find bloggers in as many states as possible to send an open records request to the Office of the Governor in their state, requesting e-mails from that office for a recent 4-day period. (See Sunshine Blogger Project).

What is the goal?

The goal is to get information from all 50 states, enabling a state-by-state comparision of America's gubernatorial offices on the question of whether or not they keep and store public electronic documents (in this case, e-mails) in a way that allows those documents to be readily produced in response to an open records request.

Whose idea is this?

The idea came from John Washburn. John is a fan of government transparency--and a blogger--who lives near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 2007, he learned that it was the policy of Texas Governor Rick Perry's office to destroy e-mail documents after one week. This led to an interest in learning how other American gubernatorial offices treat electronic public records.

How does this relate to Sunshine Week 2008?

Sunshine Week 2008 takes place from March 16-22, 2008. The "Sunshine Blogger Project" is an unofficial effort that has no affiliation, official or otherwise, with Sunshine Week 2008.

How do I get started?

Check to see if your state is already covered. You can do that at Your Governor and Open Records. If your state isn't covered, go ahead and follow the simple steps at How to ask for records from your governor. Make sure to tell us once you've sent in a request. We'll add that information to the chart, so that other interested bloggers in your state can avoid duplication of effort.

I'm positive that in my state, e-mails sent from and received by the Office of the Governor are not considered public under our open records laws.

We encourage you to send the open records request anyway. The Office of the Governor in your state may or may not be legally obligated to provide you with the e-mail records you request. However, even if the office is not legally obligated to provide the records, the Office may do so anyway, in the interests of promoting open and accountable government. You'll never know if you don't ask.

What if I have questions beyond what you've covered here?

You can find instructions for how to get in touch with people who can help with any questions you may have at Assistance for Sunshine Blogger Project.

What will you do with the information about how different gubernatorial offices respond to requests for copies of e-mails?

We will post it in the chart at Your Governor and Open Records. (Since this is a wiki, you can also post it in that chart.) Leslie Graves will write about it at State Sunshine and Open Records, and we hope you will also write evaluations of and comments on whatever the results are.

I like this project and I would like to help, but I am not a blogger.

If your state isn't covered, you can go ahead and send in the open records request. We'll work with you to find a blogger in your state who'd like to write about what you are doing.

If I do this, can I put one of those "Sunshine Blogger" logos on my blog?

Yes. Click here to find the code.

See also:

Sunshine Blogger Project
Assistance for Sunshine Blogger Project
How to ask for records from your governor
Note from John Washburn