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Minnesota has long viewed itself as a bastion of good and open government.

In many ways, that description is valid. We don’t have a record of corruption that places like Illinois or Louisiana are known for.

State lawmakers and local elected officials are, in general, trying to do good public service, not focus on enriching or empowering themselves.

And, largely through the news media, the public can learn what their government is doing. Much of that is thanks to the state’s open meeting law and other “sunshine” laws that require most government bodies to post agendas in advance, keep their meetings open to the public and media and not make decisions outside of official meetings.

But the state laws lack enough teeth to be truly effective. A member of the public or news media can file open meeting or public records complaints against a government body, but the process takes longer than it should. And even when a court finds elected officials violated open meeting rules there is rarely any serious punishment. While a court can order up to a $300 fine to individual officials who violate the law, there is usually no price to pay.

While our neighbors to the south don’t have as strong of open government laws as Minnesota, one lawmaker is working to put more teeth in their laws.

Iowa Rep. Gary Mohr, R-Bettendorf, has introduced a bill that would increase fines for public officials who violate open meetings laws. Beyond that, the bill would require elected and appointed officials to undergo training on open meetings and open records. Finally, the bill would remove officials from public office who knowingly violate the open meetings law multiple times.

The bill would raise the civil fine from between $100 and $500 to between $1,000 and $5,000 or to between $10,000 and $25,000 if the violation was committed knowingly. That level of increase would ensure public officials make better decisions about open records and meetings.
Minnesota would do well to increase its penalties.

Having very strong open government laws in place is more important than ever as the news media landscape has changed. Already there are more areas of the state where local newspapers have closed or dramatically cut staff. That means almost no one is keeping an eye on local governments.

Strong open government laws at least allow interested citizens to have tools to hold their officials accountable.

— Mankato Free Press, Jan. 23