INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana House and Senate passed a bill Friday that gives judges the ability to fine public officials who intentionally violate Indiana’s public access laws.

The votes — which sent the bill to Gov. Mitch Daniels to veto or sign into law — came shortly before the General Assembly adjourned for the year.

“We’re only asking folks to obey current law,” said Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle. “This is good law, folks. I think our constituents demand it. There have been cases where we have had folks, citizens, tax payers, who have been denied access.”

The legislation — pushed by the Hoosier State Press Association — had passed the House earlier this year before dying in the Senate.

HSPA Executive Director Steve Key said lawmakers resurrected the language Friday during a conference committee meeting, when members of the House and Senate work on compromises between competing versions of legislation.

“This bill sends an important message that the legislature supports the public’s right to know what its government agencies are doing or contemplating and that right should not be ignored,” Key said in an email Friday that urged editors to contact their lawmakers to urge “yes” votes on the bill.

House Bill 1003 — passed 74-20 by the House and 41-9 by the Senate — would allow judges to penalize public officials who violate public access laws with a fine of up to $100 for a first-time offender.

It would also require governing bodies to send out an email at the beginning of each year to Hoosiers who ask for a schedule of agency meetings. If the agency chooses not to send an email, they can post the scheduled meetings and hearings on a website.

Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, was among the few lawmakers who spoke against the bill. He said he knew of no instances in which a public official had denied a public record.

“I think it’s an unfunded mandate to our school corporations and cities and towns,” Alting said.

Key said the bill is not about reporters’ access, but rather the public’s access and right to know.

“Democracy is only as strong as the knowledge that citizens have of what government is doing,” Key said. “Up to this point, there are no personal consequences for the public official who deliberately ignores either the Open Door law or Access to Public Records Act.”

Key said although public officials don’t often purposefully ignore the laws regarding public access, it does happen, and citizens’ rights need to be protected.

“This bill is important to us in that it allows the Legislature to send a clear message to those rare public officials who would ignore the public’s right to know by letting them know there are personal consequences to trampling on the public’s rights,” he said.

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