This article has been updated.
A bill that would require government agencies in New Mexico to accept requests for public records via e-mail and fax has been approved by the Legislature and sent to the governor for action.
But it’s not House Bill 598, sponsored by Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, which is the bill I’ve written about in the past. The bill awaiting action by the governor is House Bill 534, sponsored by Eleanor Chavez, D-Albuquerque.
Chavez’s bill, as approved by the Legislature, is simple. It would require that government agencies accept requests for public records via e-mail and fax.
Currently, the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act requires response to “oral” and “written” requests for public records, but there’s apparently no clear definition of what constitutes writing. Denying a request because it was sent electronically, and forcing someone to instead deliver the request in person or mail it, is one method some government agencies have used to make it more difficult to access public records.
I’ve faced that type of stonewalling in the past. Cervantes’ bill came in response to New Mexico State University’s assertion in 2007 that records requests I filed weren’t valid because they were sent via e-mail. The attorney general considered NMSU’s denial of my request and said that, though his office and the vast majority of state agencies treat e-mail requests as valid, state law doesn’t explicitly require that they be treated as valid.
Chavez’s bill was approved by the Senate on Friday on a vote of 33-0. It had previously passed the House on a vote of 64-0.
Update, 10:45 a.m.
Cervantes’ bill just passed the Senate as well, on a vote of 32-5, and now goes, along with Chavez’s, to the governor. I guess the governor will get to choose which one to sign — assuming he supports the proposal.