Answer

Yes. The Public Records Law is based on the public’s right to examine public records as enumerated in Article XII, §3 of the Louisiana Constitution. The Public Records Law is subject to a liberal construction in favor of public review. Absent an exception provided by the Constitution, such as the Right of Privacy, or by the Legislature through the Public Records Law, R.S. 44:1, et seq., public records are subject to public examination, inspection, or copying. Given the mandate of liberal construction of the Public Records Law in favor of public examination, any exception provided for under the Public Records Law must be strictly construed. That means that a public entity must meet all of the requirements of an exception in order for the exception to apply and allow them to withhold a record from public examination. Unlike, the Procurement Code, Traffic Code, and other State Laws which authorize local adoption of provisions generally applicable only to State departments, there is no such provision in the Public Records Law. Therefore, the parish board cannot “adopt” a statutory exception to the Public Records Law that, by its wording, is limited only to the Louisiana Department of Economic Development (LED). In this case, the parish board may, however, utilize any exceptions that would properly apply to the records in question, including those that exempt any actual proprietary and trade secret information. The parish board should work with its legal counsel to determine which records it may properly withhold from public review. The remaining records should properly be provided upon a public records request. The parish board can also seek to have its local representative or senator introduce future legislation to provide an exemption similar to LED’s, if it determines that a need for such exemption exists. Louisiana Legislative Auditor website: 05/01/2024 11:32:28 PM