As public entities, our clients regularly work through routine as well as difficult and unusual public records issues.  We wanted to make you aware of some free resources that are available when you need a refresher or want additional information to assist with handling a public records request, fee waiver request, retention question, or other public records issue.

• Attorney General’s Public Records and Meetings Manual (2024): Recently updated, this manual provides a general overview of all aspects of public records law, including topics such as who is subject to the law, retention obligations, processing public records requests, exemptions from disclosure, appeal petitions, and more.

• Public Records Orders: When a public records request or fee waiver request is denied, the requester may appeal that decision to the district attorney (for local entities) or the Attorney General (for state entities).  The DA/AG then issues a public records order, which can be helpful to local governments faced with public records issues such as determining whether an exemption applies or how to handle a fee waiver request.  There are several collections of public records orders available online.

  • Attorney General Public Records Orders (since 1981; click link titled “Public Records Orders are available from the State of Oregon Law Library »”): searchable

  • Multnomah County District Attorney Public Records Orders: not searchable but organized by topic

  • Other Oregon Counties’ District Attorney Public Records Orders (some since 2019 with earlier orders added as they become available): searchable

• Attorney General Exemption Catalog: ORS 192.340, added in 2017, requires the Attorney General to maintain and regularly update a catalog of public records exemptions. The catalog includes the exemption’s statute number, description, agencies affected, and relevant balancing test, as well as links to appellate court cases and Attorney General public records orders, if applicable.

• Oregon Public Records Advocate Resources: The Office of the Public Records Advocate also maintains a resources page, which compiles many of the resources named here as well as links to trainings and presentations the Public Records Advocate has given, materials from the Public Records Advisory Committee, public records news stories, and more.

• Public Records 101 Webinar: Our office presented a Public Records 101 webinar focused on practical tips and solutions for local governments in Oregon, and a recording is available on our website.  Topics presented include: definitions of public records, retention obligations, handling public records requests, fees, deadlines, exemptions, appeals and more.

One tip for searching: keep in mind that the public records statutes have been renumbered several times, including a significant renumbering in 2017, so you may get better search results if you use key words instead of specific statutory citations.  For instance, rather than searching “ORS 192.345(12)” you might consider searching “discipline” in order to capture orders on personnel disciplinary materials issued before and since 2017.

Lastly, many of these various resources represent the agencies’ interpretations of the public records law, which may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and which may evolve over time through changes in the statutes or appellate court cases.  If you have a question about a public records issue, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our office.