The Illinois Senate voted last Thursday on a bill to limit public records access to performance evaluations of public employees.

The proposed law restricts job performance evaluations of all public employees from disclosure.

Critics say the bill scales back the state’s improved Freedom of Information Act that took effect Jan. 1, 2010.

State worker’s unions that represent public employees support the bill. They argue that public access to performance evaluations could cause a hostile work environment because public employees would be able to access each other’s evaluations.

There are currently 7 proposed bills in the Illionois senate that seek to restrict public records access.

Following the arrest, impeachment and indictment of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the state passed a Freedom of Information Act reform that eased access to public records and forced state agencies to respond to FOIA requests in a timely manner.

Proposed laws to limit the new FOIA rules include a bill to allow public agencies to charge higher fees by eliminating the new limit of 15 cents a page. Another bill would remove the requirement that courts award attorney fees to citizens who win in court over illegally-withheld records. Other bills seek to allow public agencies to withhold records if they pertain to any issue “under investigation”.

The Illinois Press Association is critical of the proposed FOIA changes.

Illinois Press Association general counsel Don Craven said: “We had hoped that they’d let the ink dry on the new FOIA bill before they started changing it.”

[ Source: Northwest Herald ]

A US Justice Department automobile database to fight car theft and fraud is getting closer to reality.

The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, authorized by Congress 17 years ago, currently contains 77 percent of all automobile title records in the United States. The database currently has over 300 million VINs ( vehicle identification numbers ).

The public database is designed to protect people from purchasing a vehicle that was salvaged in one state and retitled in another state without the identification of “salvage” on the new title.

Some autos that are salvaged in one state could get a clean title in another state.

Over 1 million vehicles are stolen every year in the US and many get new “cloned” titles in other states.

Once all states submit their records to the DOJ and the new database is complete, it is estimated it will save between $4 billion and $11 billion annually in fraud.

State agencie will be able to search the database before issuing a new vehicle title, to make sure the vehicle wasn’t stolen, scrapped or salvaged.

Individuals and car dealers will be able to search used vehicles online for a small fee.

Law enforcement will also have access to the database to search for stolen vehicles.

In addition to state government information, the auto database will pull records from insurance companies, auto recycling companies, junkyards and salvage businesses.

The DOJ database will complement information that can be obtained from commercial auto data vendors like CarFax and Experian Automotive.

Jim Burch, acting director of the DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, said the database will help protect the public from title fraud and stop stolen vehicles from getting retitled as well as make it more difficult for auto thieves to clone or conceal stolen vehicles.

You can visit the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System site at VehicleHistory.gov.

[ Source: DetNews.com ]

An Indiana state bill that would stop public access to a gun permit database is working its way through the state legislature.

The Indiana bill was introduced after complaints about news reports that used the public database to publicize problems with the process by which gun permits are granted.

Indiana’s House Natural Resources Committee unanimously approved the bill last Thursday.

Indiana State Representative Dave Cheatham (D), chairman of the panel that voted on the bill, said, “Individuals have a right to privacy.”

The author of the bill, Representative Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, said she was contacted by voters who were worried that their personal privacy could be compromised by similar news reports.

Representative Welch also stated: “It wasn’t just people who owned guns,” she said. “It was people who didn’t own guns and said, ‘I don’t like the idea that somebody can know I don’t have a permit, which may make them think that I don’t have a gun and come and rob me.”

The Indianapolis Star reported on numerous incidents where state police issued gun permits to people with a violent or criminal record.

Although Representative Cheatham said he doesn’t want news reporters to have access to names and addresses of gun permit holders in Indiana, he stated that he totally supports the media putting pressure on government officials if gun permits aren’t issued properly.

[ Source: ChicagoTribune.com ]

Our Alaska property tax assessor records search and directory has been updated for the following areas of Alaska:

Anchorage Borough property tax assessor.
Fairbanks North Star Borough property tax assessor.
Juneau Borough & City property tax assessor.
Kenai Peninsula Borough property tax assessor.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough property tax assessor.

Our directory of Alabama property tax assessor records sites has been updated for the following areas in Alabama:

Autauga County property tax assessor.
Baldwin County property tax assessor.
Blount County property tax assessor.
Calhoun County property tax assessor.
Chambers County property tax assessor.
Chilton County property tax assessor.
Clarke County property tax assessor.
Coffee County property tax assessor.
Colbert County property tax assessor.
Covington County property tax assessor.
Cullman County property tax assessor.
Dallas County property tax assessor.
DeKalb County property tax assessor.
Elmore County property tax assessor.
Escambia County property tax assessor.
Etowah County property tax assessor.
Houston County property tax assessor.
Jackson County property tax assessor.
Jefferson County property tax assessor.
Lauderdale County property tax assessor.
Lee County property tax assessor.
Madison County property tax assessor.
Marion County property tax assessor.
Marshall County property tax assessor.
Mobile (city) property tax assessor.
Mobile County property tax assessor.
Monroe County property tax assessor.
Montgomery County property tax assessor.
Morgan County property tax assessor.
Perry County property tax assessor.
Pickens County property tax assessor.
Pike County property tax assessor.
Randolph County property tax assessor.
Russell County property tax assessor.
Shelby County property tax assessor.
St. Clair County property tax assessor.
Talladega County property tax assessor.
Tallapoosa County property tax assessor.
Tuscaloosa County property tax assessor.
Walker County property tax assessor.
Wilcox County property tax assessor.
Winston County property tax assessor.