Legislature Shields Voice Mail

From FOI Disclosure

By Jan Howard

Legislation that would block the Freedom of Information Commission (FOIC) from requiring governmental voice mail to be maintained as public records has been passed by the state legislature.

The legislation, which was proposed by Sen Andrew Roraback (R-30) of Goshen, specifies that nothing in the Freedom of information Act (FOIA) requires any public agency to transcribe the content of any voice mail message and retain the record for any period of time.

The legislation defines “voice mail” as all information transmitted by voice for the sole purpose of its electronic receipt, storage, and playback by a public agency.

In April, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal had termed the proposed requirement as an unfunded mandate. He said transcribing messages and determining which should be kept would increase costs for every department and questioned how the transcription would be done.

Mr Rosenthal said he felt the FOIC overstepped its authority, noting that such a requirement and how it would be administered would fall under the jurisdiction of the Public Records Administrator.

The Connecticut Council of Municipalities, of which Newtown is a member, had opposed the idea.

In 2002, the FOIC issued a proposed declaratory ruling that voice mail communications relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, received, or retained by a public agency are public records under FOIA. As such, the commission’s proposal declared that these voice mail messages must be retained. On April 28, 2004, the FOIC decided not to issue a declaratory ruling on the issues raised in the draft ruling.