Miss. does worst in country in online databases
State Listings by
Number of Categories Viewed Free Online:
Texas 20
Hawaii 11
New Jersey 18
Illinois 11
North Carolina 17
Kentucky 11
New York 16
Louisiana 11
Utah 16
Missouri 11
Colorado 15
Tennessee 11
Michigan 15
Iowa 10
Ohio 15
Massachusetts 10
Virginia 15
New Mexico 10
Arizona 14
Oklahoma 10
Florida 14
Vermont 10
Georgia 14
Wisconsin 10
Kansas 14
Connecticut 9
Nevada 14
Maine 9
Washington 14
Delaware 8
Alabama 13
Idaho 8
Arizona 13
New Hampshire 8
Maryland 13
Rhode Island 8
Minnesota 13
South Dakota 8
North Dakota 13
West Virginia 8
Pennsylvania 13
Indiana 7
Alaska 12
Montana 7
California 12
Oregon 7
Nebraska 12
Wyoming 7
South Carolina 12
Mississippi 4
statewide school test data (50)
DOT projects and contracts (48)
political campaign contributions and expenses (48)
fictitious business name registrations (30)
And we lack …
disciplinary actions against medical physicians (47)
audit reports (46)
disciplinary actions against attorneys (38)
environmental citations/violations (37)
teacher certifications (34)
nursing home inspection reports (29)
database of expenditures (29)
consumer complaints (24)
child care center inspection reports (23)
bridge inspection and safety reports (23)
personal financial disclosure reports (22)
hospital inspection reports (17)
school bus inspections (12)
school inspection/safety records (11)
gas pump overcharge records (8)
death certificates (5)
H/t to Chris Joyner’s CL Blog
Who says:
We rapidly are moving into an era where the only reasonable standard for making government information public will be its voluntary publication on the Internet.
The most recent observation of Sunshine Week took that very approach to grading states for openness, and Mississippi did poorly. In essence, the idea is that government should make information it holds available online rather than waiting to be asked for it.
The federal government has made significant strides, thanks to the 1996 Freedom of Information Act amendment, which mandated Electronic Reading Rooms for frequently requested material. Some agencies have made more progress than others.
One area of government that has taken the freedom bull by the openness horns is public health. I was cruising through today’s paper and read the update on last week tragic drowning at a Jackson public pool. Fortunately, such incidents in Jackson are rare, but they take place around the U.S. with regularity.
Magnolia Tribune
