• Publications
    • Essay
    • Case Study
    • Policy Study
    • Report
    • Testimony
    • Other
    • Newsletter
  • Blog
    • Daily Blog
    • Podcasts and Radio
    • Video
    • Infographics
    • Commentary / Op-Eds
    • Events
  • Events
  • Donate
  • About
    • Our Team
    • Show-Me Institute Board of Directors
    • Fellows and Scholars
    • Our Authors
    • Jobs
  • Contact
  • Explore Topics
    • Education
      • Accountability
      • Education Finance
      • Performance
      • School Choice
    • Health Care
      • Free-Market Reform
      • Medicaid
    • Corporate Welfare
      • Special Taxing Districts
      • Subsidies
      • Tax Credits
    • Labor
      • Government Unions
      • Public Pensions
    • State and Local Government
      • Budget and Spending
      • Courts
      • Criminal Justice
      • Municipal Policy
      • Property Rights
      • Transparency
      • Transportation
    • Economy
      • Business Climate
      • Energy
      • Minimum Wage
      • Privatization
      • Regulation
      • Taxes
      • Welfare
      • Workforce
Show Me InstituteShow Me Institute
Show Me InstituteShow Me Institute
Support the Show-Me Institute
  • Publications
    • Essay
    • Case Study
    • Policy Study
    • Report
    • Testimony
    • Other
    • Newsletter
  • Blog
    • Daily Blog
    • Podcasts and Radio
    • Video
    • Infographics
    • Commentary / Op-Eds
    • Events
  • Events
  • Donate
  • About
    • Our Team
    • Show-Me Institute Board of Directors
    • Fellows and Scholars
    • Our Authors
    • Jobs
  • Contact
  • Explore Topics
    • Education
      • Accountability
      • Education Finance
      • Performance
      • School Choice
    • Health Care
      • Free-Market Reform
      • Medicaid
    • Corporate Welfare
      • Special Taxing Districts
      • Subsidies
      • Tax Credits
    • Labor
      • Government Unions
      • Public Pensions
    • State and Local Government
      • Budget and Spending
      • Courts
      • Criminal Justice
      • Municipal Policy
      • Property Rights
      • Transparency
      • Transportation
    • Economy
      • Business Climate
      • Energy
      • Minimum Wage
      • Privatization
      • Regulation
      • Taxes
      • Welfare
      • Workforce
State and Local Government / Transparency

State Audit Reveals Transparency Problems

By Michael Highsmith on Dec 8, 2016

When it comes to the workings of the government, the more transparency the better.  Missouri’s Sunshine Law is intended to help citizens keep their government accountable and see how tax dollars are being used.  In reality, the law is not working.  

In November, Missouri’s State Auditor’s office ran a test.  It randomly delivered 309 letters to political subdivisions in its database.  Each of these public entities (cities, school districts, special taxing districts, etc.) was sent a very simple, anonymous sunshine request, and the responses were then monitored.  The results were dismal.  More than two-thirds of public entities failed to fully comply, and roughly one in six failed to respond at all. 

A few political subdivisions even refused to provide information unless they were told who was requesting it, even though nothing in the Sunshine Law requires that proof of identity accompany a request for information. 

The point of the exercise was to learn what the average citizen deals with when checking on a public body, and the results show that the process is often overly burdensome.  Some responses asked for payments as high as $80 for easily attainable documents like minutes from 2015 meetings. Show-Me Institute analysts have submitted our fair share of sunshine requests and have at times been met with outrageous demands.

It’s possible that some of these failures come from a lack of understanding of the law. If this is the case, then public servants need to be brought up to speed on their duty to the public. When government entities aren’t open to public scrutiny, there is reason for concern.  There’s nothing unreasonable about demanding that public information be public.

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Email
  • Print
About the author

Michael Highsmith

More about this author >
Footer Logo
Support the Show-Me-Institute
Showmeinstitute.org is brought to you by Show-Me Institute and Show-Me Opportunity.
  • Publications
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Donate
  • About
  • Contact

Reprint permission for Show-Me Institute publications and commentaries is hereby granted, provided that proper credit is given to the author. We request, but do not require, that those who reprint our material notify us of publication for our records: [email protected]

Mission Statement
Advancing liberty with responsibility by promoting market solutions for Missouri public policy.

© Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved