A bill to strengthen Alabama’s weak public records law won approval Tuesday in an Alabama Senate committee.

SB270 by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, would require government agencies to respond to public records requests by specific times.

Alabama’s public records law says citizens have a right to view and get copies of public records but includes no requirements for agencies to respond by any specific times.

Critics of the law say that allows agencies to deny requests by ignoring them or delaying their responses.

The Senate County and Municipal Government Committee approved Orr’s bill Tuesday without dissent after a brief explanation by the sponsor.

Committee approval puts the bill in position for consideration by the full Senate. Orr said he expects to make some changes to the bill before then.

The Senate passed a similar bill by Orr last year, but it did not pass the House.

The Alabama Press Association supports Orr’s bill as an incremental improvement to the public records law.

A 2019 study by a researcher at the University of Arizona ranked Alabama last among states in responsiveness to requests for records.

Gov. Kay Ivey issued an executive order last year directing state executive branch agencies to be more responsive to public records requests and setting timelines. Ivey supports Orr’s bill.

“As it currently stands, SB270 largely replicates the governor’s public records executive order, and it certainly comes as a result of her leadership on this issue,” Gina Maiola, communications director for the governor, said in an email. “At the end of the day, the governor would support any bill that, like her executive order, allows for more transparency, while still being manageable for government.”

SB270 puts public records requests in two categories – standard requests and time-intensive requests.

Standard requests are for “one or more specifically and discretely identified public records that the public officer determines would take less than eight hours of staff time to process.”

SB270 requires public agencies to acknowledge receipt of standard requests within 10 business days. It requires a substantive response with 15 business days after that. A substantive response means providing the records, setting a time and place to provide the records, committing to provide the records after payment of a reasonable fee for costs, or denying the request with an explanation of why.

The public agency could extend the response time in increments of 15 business days by notifying the requester in writing.

SB270 says the requester could file a lawsuit if there is no substantive response within 30 business days, or no records produced within 30 business days of paying fees, or if the request is denied.

Time-intensive requests are those “that the public officer determines would take more than eight hours of staff time to process considering the time needed to identify and retrieve any responsive records and any time needed to redact or take other measures to withhold legally protected information.”

For time-intensive requests, public agencies would have to provide a substantive response within 45 business days, although they could extend that in increments of 45 business days by notifying the requester in writing.

Requesters could file a lawsuit if there is no substantive response within 180 business days, no records provided within 180 business days of paying requested fees, or if the request is denied in whole or in part.

Alabama’s public records law was passed in 1923. According to an article by attorney J. Evans Bailey published by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the law remained unchanged until 1983, when the Legislature exempted from public access the registration and circulation records of libraries. In 2004, the Legislature added exemptions for records concerning security plans, critical infrastructure, energy infrastructure, and other records for which the public disclosure could reasonably be expected to be detrimental to public safety or welfare.