GCA Title 5, Chapter 10
5 GCA GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS CH. 10 SUNSHINE REFORM ACT OF 1999
CHAPTER 10 SUNSHINE REFORM ACT OF 1999
- Article 1. Sunshine Law.
- Article 2. Records. Article 3. Information Required on Magnetic Media and the Internet.
ARTICLE 1 SUNSHINE LAW
NOTE: P.L. 18-047:1 (Jan. 2, 1987) added Chapter 9 (§§ 6980 6991), entitled Freedom of Information, to the Government Code (‘Sunshine Act of 1986’). P.L. 18-047:2 also repealed GC § 6114 (Fees of Copying Documents), § 6270 (Inspection of Public Records; Certified Copies), and § 6271 (Fees of Certified Copies of Public Records. P.L. 19-005:139 (Aug. 21, 1987) repealed P.L. 18-047, and P.L. 19005:136 added a new Chapter IX (§§ 6980-6991) entitled Freedom of Information, to Title VII of the Government Code (‘Sunshine Act of 1987’). In the 19th Guam Legislature Session Laws, the previous Compiler renumbered these sections to GC §§ 6750-6759, and later codified these provisions as Article 1 of this Chapter. Further, he determined that the repeal of P.L. 18-047:2 by P.L. 19005:139 resulted in the revival of §§ 6114, 6270 and 6271 of the
5 GCA GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS CH. 10 SUNSHINE REFORM ACT OF 1999
Government Code, which he renumbered and codified as Article 2 of this Chapter. P.L. 25-006:2 (May 12, 1999) repealed the Sunshine Act of 1987 and reenacted this entire Article as Chapter 10 (§§ 10101 - 10113) as the Sunshine Reform Act of 1999. P.L. 25-006:3 further stated: This Act shall be effective immediately upon its enactment. The existing lists of non-public writings shall remain non-public for one hundred fifty (150) days, or until a new list is promulgated pursuant to this Law, whichever is shorter.
§ 10101. Short Title.
This Chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the ‘Sunshine Reform Act of 1999.’ SOURCE: GC § 6980 as added by P.L. 18-047:1 (Jan. 2, 1987), amended by P.L. 19-005:136 (Aug. 21, 1987). Codified by the Compiler to this section. Repealed and reenacted by P.L. 25-006:2 (May 12, 1999).
§ 10102. Definitions.
As used in this Chapter: (a) Agency means any authority of the government and includes a department, institution, board, bureau, commission, council, committee of Guam government, branch, autonomous instrumentality, public corporation funded by public taxes or funds, or other public entity of the government of Guam, whether or not it is within or subject to review by another agency. (b) Director means the person directly responsible for overseeing the daily operations of an agency, or the person serving in an acting capacity as director at the time of any request for copies of public records. (c) Person includes any natural person, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, firm or association. (d) Public records includes any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency in any format, including electronic format; and any out-of-court settlement records. SOURCE: GC § 6981 as added by P.L. 18-047:1 (Jan. 2, 1987), amended by P.L. 19-005:136 (Aug. 21, 1987). Codified by the Compiler
5 GCA GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS CH. 10 SUNSHINE REFORM ACT OF 1999
to this section. Repealed and reenacted by P.L. 25-006:2 (May 12, 1999). Subsection (d) amended by P.L. 32-076:5 (Nov. 27, 2013).
§ 10103. Right of Inspection of Public Documents.
(a) Every person has the right to inspect and take a copy of any public document on Guam, except as otherwise expressly prohibited in law, and except as provided in § 10108 of this Chapter. (b) Public records are open to inspection at all times during the office hours of the agency and every person has a right to inspect any public record, except as hereafter provided. Any segregable portion of a record shall be available for inspection by any person requesting the record after deletion of the portions that are exempted by law. (c) Except with respect to public records exempt from disclosure by express provisions of the law, each agency, upon a request for a copy of records that reasonably describes an identifiable record or records, shall make the records promptly available to any person, upon payment of fees covering direct costs of duplication, or a statutory fee, if applicable. Upon request, an exact copy shall be provided, unless impracticable to do so. (d) Each agency, upon a request for a copy of public records shall, within four (4) working days from receipt of the request, comply with the request if the records requested are disclosable public records in the possession of the agency. If the records being requested partially contain information exempted from disclosure by this Chapter or by another law, the agency shall redact the exempt information only and release the non-exempt information in the records, citing the exemptions in law that require the information to be redacted. If the records in whole contain information not disclosable by this Chapter or another law, and contain no information that can be released, the agency shall notify the person requesting the records within four (4) working days from receipt of the request, and cite the exemptions in law that prohibit disclosure of the records. (e) In unusual circumstances, the time limit prescribed in this Section may be extended up to ten (10) days, including
5 GCA GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS CH. 10 SUNSHINE REFORM ACT OF 1999
Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, by written notice by the director of the agency or the director’s designee to the person making the request, setting forth the reasons for the extension and the date on which a determination is expected to be dispatched. As used in this Section, unusual circumstances means: (1) the need to search for and collect the requested records from field facilities or other establishments that are separate from the office processing the request; or (2) the need to search for, collect and appropriately examine more than ten (10) separate and distinct records which are demanded in a single request, or records that in total, are contained in five hundred (500) or more pages, or contain about two hundred fifty thousand (250,000) words, whichever is more. SOURCE: GC § 6982 as added by P.L. 18-047:1 (Jan. 2, 1987), amended by P.L. 19-005:136 (Aug. 21, 1987). Codified by the Compiler to this section. Repealed and reenacted by P.L. 25-006:2 (May 12, 1999). CROSS-REFERENCE: 12 GCA § 50118. [Applicability of Sunshine Information Act and the Open Government Law.]
§ 10104. Electronic Communications.
(a) An agency shall treat an electronic mail request for public records the same as it treats paper and oral requests for records. The same deadlines apply to electronic mail requests as other requests, and to ensure that electronic requests are complied with quickly, the agency shall check its electronic mail every work day. (b) In making any record available to a person under this Chapter, an agency shall provide the record in any form or format requested by the person if the record is readily reproducible by the agency in that form or format. Each agency shall make reasonable efforts to maintain its records in forms or formats that are reproducible in electronic form, through electronic mail or on computer disk. SOURCE: Added by P.L. 25-006:2 (May 12, 1999). NOTE: This section was originally codified from GC § 6983, entitled ‘Limitation on Right of Inspection’ as added by P.L. 18-047:1 (Jan. 2,
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1987), amended by P.L. 19-005:136 (Aug. 21, 1987). Codified by the Compiler as 10 GCA§ 10104. This provision was repealed by P.L. 25006:2 (May 12, 1999), and added as ‘Electronic Communications.’ The provision entitled ‘Limitation on Right of Inspection’ was reenacted as § 10108. P.L. 25-040:1 (June 7, 1999) amended § 10104 as follows: § 10104. Limitation on Right of Inspection. (a) None of the following documents may be inspected and copied pursuant to § 10103 of this Chapter, unless permitted by any other law of Guam: (1) files involving the investigation of any person, real or legal, for the commission of any crime; provided, however, that this Section shall not affect the public or sealed nature of any documents filed with the courts in any action or proceeding; (2) the personnel file of any employee of the government without his consent, except that relevant material in said file shall be open to inspection after a final decision has been rendered in any tribunal which may have jurisdiction over the subject matter in the file. All information regarding salary, and the name, and worksite mail address of each employee shall be public; (3) tax returns and tax records, except for real property tax records and returns which shall be public; and (4) police blotters, accident reports, daily activity logs and similar information not restricted by Subsection (a) of this Section shall be available to the public. However, because § 10104 as entitled ‘Limitation on Right of Inspection’ had already been repealed by P.L. 25-006:2, therefore, it no longer existed in the law. As a result of this manifest error, the amendment of P.L. 25-040 was no effect and is not codified here.
§ 10105. Efficient Disclosure of Records.
(a) To ensure expedient disclosure of records by an agency, the Director of an agency shall require all personnel in charge of receiving any incoming mail, electronic mail, faxed documents or other communications to immediately notify the Director or his designee upon receipt of a request for records under this Chapter.
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(b) Upon receipt of a request for records under this Chapter, the Director of an agency or his designee shall immediately assign the request to be fulfilled or responded to by an employee of the agency. (c) Each agency shall organize paper and computer files so that documents can be retrieved and copied quickly for expedient disclosure of records under this Chapter. SOURCE: Added by P.L. 25-006:2 (May 12, 1999). NOTE: This section was originally codified from GC § 6984, entitled ‘Public Officers to Give Copies’ as added by P.L. 18-047:1 (Jan. 2, 1987), amended by P.L. 19-005:136 (Aug. 21, 1987). Codified by the Compiler as 10 GCA§ 10105. This provision was repealed by P.L. 25006:2 (May 12, 1999), and added as ‘Efficient Disclosure of Records.’
§ 10106. Posting Guidelines.
(a) Every agency shall establish written guidelines for accessibility of records and stating the procedures to be followed when making its records available in accordance with this Chapter. The guidelines shall include a mailing address, fax number and electronic mail address to which a person can send requests for copies of public records. The guidelines shall also include the records exempted from disclosure of which the agency is a custodian, as prescribed in Subsection (b) of this Section. A copy of these guidelines shall be posted in a conspicuous public place at the offices of each agency, and a copy of the guidelines shall be available upon request free of charge to any person requesting the agency’s records. Each agency shall also make the guidelines and list of disclosable and non-disclosable documents available by computer telecommunications within one (1) year of the effective date of this Chapter. (b) Every public officer in charge of an agency having custody of records shall, within sixty (60) days after the effective date of this Act, compile a list containing categorized descriptions of all writing in the custody of the agency which said agency considers non-public and non-disclosable as prescribed in § 10108 of this Chapter, and submit the list to the Speaker of I Liheslaturan Guåhan for approval by I Liheslaturan Guåhan . The list for each agency shall be referred by the Rules
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Committee to the appropriate oversight committees, which shall hold a public hearing on each list before the list is put on I Liheslaturan Guåhan’s session agenda for approval. Such approved list shall be used as a guide for determination of nondisclosable records by agency employees and may be amended by I Liheslaturan Guåhan at any time. All documents not included on this list shall be considered public writings. If no such list is promulgated by the agency within (60) days, all documents and records shall be public unless non-public and non-disclosable pursuant to § 10108. If a list is not approved by I Liheslaturan Guåhan within ninety (90) days of submission thereof, it shall be deemed approved on the expiration of the ninety (90) days. SOURCE: Added by P.L. 25-006:2 (May 12, 1999). NOTE: This section was originally codified from GC § 6985, entitled ‘Procedure to request public writings’ as added by P.L. 18-047:1 (Jan. 2, 1987), amended by P.L. 19-005:136 (Aug. 21, 1987). Codified by the Compiler as 10 GCA§ 10106. This provision was repealed by P.L. 25006:2 (May 12, 1999), and reenacted as ‘Posting Guidelines.’ NOTE: P.L. 25-076:2 (Nov. 19, 1999) added the following uncodified provisions: Section 2. Disapproval of GEPA Proposed Guidelines. The GEPA July 12, 1999 proposed guidelines submitted pursuant to the requirements of the Sunshine Reform Act of 1999 are hereby disapproved, but shall not affect the existing limitations already contained within the Sunshine Reform Act of 1999, including within § 10108, and their applicability to said agencies. Section 3. Disapproval of GEPA Proposed Exemptions. The GEPA July 12, 1999 list of proposed exemptions submitted pursuant to the requirements of the Sunshine Reform Act of 1999 are hereby disapproved, but shall not affect the existing limitations already contained within the Sunshine Reform Act of 1999, including within § 10108, and their applicability to said agencies P.L. 25-077 (Nov. 19, 1999) added the following uncodified provisions: Section 2. Disapproval of GEPA Proposed Guidelines. The GEPA July 12, 1999 proposed guidelines submitted pursuant to the requirements of the Sunshine Reform Act of 1999 are hereby disapproved, but shall not affect the existing