Indiana created the Office of the Public Access Counselor in 1998 to give citizens a fast, free referee when government agencies deny access to records or meetings. Today, that office is under scrutiny. A recent Indianapolis Star analysis found the current counselor, Jennifer Ruby, has taken an average of nearly 250 days to issue advisory opinions — far beyond the 30 days contemplated in state law — and has sided with government agencies in roughly two-thirds of her opinions, the exact inverse of her predecessor’s record.

On this week’s edition of the Fridays with Larry podcast, I trace how Indiana’s public access laws were built over seven decades, and how 2024 legislation changed the counselor’s independence and authority.

My guest is Zachary Baiel, president of the Indiana Coalition for Open Government. We discuss what open government should look like in everyday life, the practical impact of the changes at the Public Access Counselor’s office, and the hotline ICOG launched to help Hoosiers who can’t get answers. Baiel also explains how government agencies use cloud services and outside vendors to sidestep records requests — and why he urges civility and persistence for anyone seeking public records. The ICOG hotline is 260-ASK-ICOG (260-275-4264), and the group’s website is indianacog.org.

Also in this episode: a look at New York Times reporting on the enormous global build-out of AI computing power, and the story of an upstate New York school district that paused plans for an AI-powered classroom robot.

Fridays With Larry is sponsored by Citizens State Bank.

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