Important Things To Know About FOIA Archiving



Government officials are no longer ignoring the fact that a lot of people use personal mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones for work-related discussions.  Formerly unconventional means are being used by people to discuss business these days. It is not unusual for a city attorney to send an SMS message to their colleague instead of writing them an email or using an official city phone to do so. The messages that are being send using formerly unconventional means are increasingly being legally recognized as matters of public record, meaning that FOIA archiving in a proper manner is needed.

In early 2011, the office of the Attorney General of Texas made a ruling that required text messages as well as emails that are sent between public officials to be considered public information subject to the Texas Public Information Act. Before this ruling was made, a city in Texas had received a request that required SMS messages and emails that are sent between the city’s commission members, the senior personnel and the city secretary.

Even though the city’s attorney argued that the Texas Public Information Act exempted this type of information because of privacy concerns, the Attorney General’s office ruled against the city and made an affirmation that text messages and emails that are connected with the transaction of official business are considered public information and are protected by the Texas Public Information Act. Since those texts were considered open records, they needed to be archived.

During the same year, the Attorney Public Access Bureau of Illinois Attorney General published a binding opinion dubbed Opinion 11-066 which clearly establishes that electronic communication that is related to information on the state, federal or local level, whether it is shared on privately or publicly-owned devices, can be considered public records. This makes this communication subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

For more information on FOIA archiving, visit our website at https://www.telemessage.com/

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