The latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Heartland

KIRKSVILLE, MO -- For most citizens, if you ask your local sheriffs office for an arrest report or an incident report, you could get all of the documents for free.  For others, officials might charge outrageous fees and demand payment up front.  Or you might not get a response at all.

This is the mission of the Missouri Sunshine Coalition.  From September 2010 to January 2011, the non profit organization conducted an audit on all 114 sheriffs’ offices across the State of Missouri called the Sunshine Law Audit.  The goal was to see how many sheriffs’ offices would release basic information to the public.  The findings revealed a vast number of inconsistencies.

When asking to provide a report of arrests and incident reports, only 77 percent, or 88 agencies, initially responded in some way.  While some required large payments for records, others never even took the time to respond.

An initial letter was sent out to all agencies on September 24, requesting all incident and arrest reports (records deemed open to the public under the Missouri Sunshine Law, Chapter 610) for the date of September 18.  On November 2, a follow up letter was sent to agencies that did not respond to the previous message.

Now, public information requests should be responded to within 72 business hours of receiving the request.  The law even states a response can be made over the phone.  Paper copies under the law should cost no more than $.10 per page and search time should be billed at "actual cost of research time" using the employee that results in the lowest charges for the time involved.

While this may be the case, members of the coalition found a severe lack of understanding among some of the agencies.  Some even asked why the person wanted the record in the first place, something that is against the law.

While some agencies are causing controversy over the matter, the Adair County Sheriffs Office was credited with a fast response time and did not charge for records to be sent.

If you would like to see the Sunshine Law Audit in its entirety, click here.