December 15, 2017

Various legislative changes to the Oregon Public Records Law, which take effect January 1, 2018, will significantly impact University operations. 

The most noteworthy change to the law, particularly for the employees of large, decentralized public entities such as the University of Oregon (“UO”), is Senate Bill 481.  Among other new requirements, this law creates statutory deadlines within which to complete a response to a public records request.  Prior to SB 481, the deadline for a public body to “respond” to a request was “as soon as practicable and without unreasonable delay.” 

Senate Bill 481 changes that standard.   It requires all public bodies, including UO, to acknowledge receipt of a public records request within 5 business days of the request, and to complete its response—e.g., to provide the responsive, non-exempt records to the requester—within 10 business days later.  Thus absent actions that would toll or waive the deadline, the University has only 15 business days within which to complete its response to a public records request.  Moreover, starting January 1, 2018, a public body’s failure to complete its response within a specified timeframe may entitle a public records requester to immediately appeal to the district attorney’s office located in the public body’s jurisdiction.

SB 481 not only encourages more communication between requesters and the University, it requires affected UO employees and departments to respond more quickly to requests from the University’s Public Records Office for background information, time estimates, and documents necessary for that office to move through each step of the public records process.  (For more information on that process, please see Public Records Office FAQs and Office of the General Counsel FAQs on this topic). It is incumbent on every such employee and department to work as efficiently as they can with the Public Records Office in order to complete the University’s response to each public records request within the new statutory obligations.

Please feel free to contact the Public Records Office or General Counsel’s Office if you have any questions or concerns about these legislative changes or the public records process.

- By Bryan Dearinger, Associate General Counsel