Complainant alleged that the DOC violated the APRA when it declined to produce documents responsive to its APRA request. The evidence indicated that the DOC properly withheld documents due to the privacy interests that outweighed the public interest in disclosure. We also found that the documents...

This Department has long held that "in order for this Department to have jurisdiction to inquire into an APRA matter, the complainant must first have requested a record from a public body, and second, the complainant must have been denied access to the requested record." Schmidt v. Ashaway...

Complainant alleged that the Town violated the APRA when it failed to respond to his APRA request. The evidence indicated that the Town timely responded to the APRA request by stating that it did not have the requested documents. We also found that Complainant's suggestion that the Police...

The Cranston Police Department did not violate the APRA when it withheld some documents responsive to an incident report and provided other documents related to an incident report in a redacted manner. No evidence was presented that disclosure would advance the APRA "public interest" as described...

The Complainant alleged that the City violated the APRA when it withheld requested documents without giving specific reasons for the denial and without indicating the procedures for appealing the denial. The evidence revealed that the City released the requested documents during the pendency of...

Complainant alleged that the City violated the APRA when it redacted information in its response to his May 24, 2016 APRA request. Consistent with our prior finding in Higgins v. Lonsdale Fire District, PR 15-20, we found that the requested W2 forms of public employees were not public records...

The Cumberland Fire District did not violate the APRA as the evidence revealed that the Complainant's August 26, 2015 complaint raised no issue with the Fire District's exercising an extension to respond to the Complainant's APRA request. Rather, the APRA complaint simply contended that as of the...

Complainant alleged that the Town violated the APRA when it failed to respond to his February 13, 2016 APRA request. Because the Town later released the requested documents to Complainant, we concluded that we only needed to determine if the Complainant's allegation represented a willful and...

The School Committee sought guidance as to whether the participation of a School Committee member in the audience of a subcommittee meeting convened a "meeting" of the School Committee within the meaning of R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-46-2(a). Although we found insufficient information to offer an opinion...

Complainant alleged that the Town violated the APRA when it failed to provide access to a document responsive to her May 13, 2016 APRA request. We found no evidence that the requested document existed. Consistent with previous cases that found no APRA violation for failure to produce records that...