Greg Weaver: State takes huge leap forward in government transparency

Indiana is entering a new and significant era of government transparency this month.

Starting July 1, many state and local government boards were required to start livestreaming their public meetings on the internet.

Some government boards already had been doing this for years—such as the Indiana General Assembly, the Indianapolis City-County Council, the Carmel City Council and many more.

But the new law appears to put Indiana in rare air by requiring the livestreaming of meetings of all state boards and commissions, elected school boards, county councils and commissioners, city and town councils and township boards.

While no formal natonal survey of state recording requirements seems to be available, Indiana joins Vermont and Massachusetts as being among the few states frequently mentioned in news reports as having statewide mandates, according to a quick Google search.

Indiana’s law goes even further by requiring any governing body—such as the parks board or the redevelopment commission—to broadcast their meetings if they meet in the same livestream-equipped room as the city or town council. All meeting recordings and livestreams must be saved for 90 days.

What this means for Hoosier citizens is that they no longer will have to rely on coffee-shop scuttlebutt or diminished local news coverage to decipher what happened at a recent heated town council meeting. They can watch it for themselves and draw their own conclusions.

And they won’t have to worry about missing a key government meeting because they can’t get off work in time or find childcare. They can just log in from their phones or their computers.

The whole approach promises to bring more access, accountability and trust in government.

State Rep. Ben Smaltz, the Auburn Republican who authored the legislation, deserves huge kudos for maneuvering the proposal through the Indiana General Assembly despite frequent objections from local government lobbyists who raised concerns about the potential costs.

But as Smaltz explained throughout the legislative process, the law sets a low technology bar for entry by not dictating exactly what equipment or platform must be used to meet the law’s standards. That means something as simple as an iPhone could be set up at a small-town government meeting to capture the action.

Concerns were raised at legislative hearings that such a setup might not produce adequate sound. But Smaltz reasoned that local citizens would raise enough of a ruckus to make sure such issues were addressed.

The law also provides an out for communities with unreliable or nonexistent internet service (an all-too-common problem), allowing them to record their meetings and post them afterward.

Smaltz’s proposal was actually signed into law two years ago, giving local governments plenty of time and opportunity to meet the July 1, 2025, deadline.

But scrambling to comply was happening up until the last minute, resulting in many inquiries to the Indiana Office of the Public Access Counselor from local government officials and local citizens concerned the deadline wouldn’t be met.

“The public is getting to be aware of these things, and they’re wanting to hold their people, their government officials, accountable for doing the livestreaming,” said Jennifer Ruby, the state’s public access counselor. “And we know many, many of the government officials are concerned. They want to make sure they’re doing it right.”

To help in that process, the public access counselor has posted guidance on the new law on the state’s website at www.in.gov/pac/.

Ultimately, compliance will depend on all government entities doing the right thing and Hoosier citizens making a fuss when they don’t.

And when it comes to raising a ruckus, I can help.•

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Greg Weaver is editor of The Indiana Lawyer. Reach him at [email protected].