5 secrets local governments want to keep from you

Here's a posting from Enquirer First Amendment reporter Gregory Korte:

Sunshine Week begins March 11, and the Enquirer is compiling a list of government records that ought to be public -- but aren't. We started the list with input from reporters and editors. Now, we'd like to fill out the list with suggestions from readers.

1. Ohio foster parent records. After the death of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel in foster care last year, the Enquirer asked the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services for a list of all licensed foster homes in the state. The agency refused, saying the list of foster care providers could, indirectly, violate the privacy of the children living in those homes. The Enquirer is now suing in the Ohio Supreme Court to get the records.

2. Rosters of Local School Decision Making Committee members. These committees help decide school budgets and policies, major personnel decisions and even where to locate a new school. But the Cincinnati Public Schools have denied repeated requests -- from the Community Press newspapers and the Enquirer -- for rosters of who's on these boards, providing only a list of the chairmen's names.

3. High school coaching recruits. Applications for public school jobs -- from superintendent to high school football coach -- are not public record in Kentucky, although their counterparts in Ohio are. Schools say that releasing applications for high-profile jobs "would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."

4. Search warrants. When judges at the Hamilton County Courthouse had a practice of putting a blanket seal on all search warrants in Hamilton County, the Enquirer protested, arguing that the decision to seal a court record could only be made on a case-by-case basis. But search warrants remain shrouded in secrecy. Of 482 search warrants, affidavits and inventories filed so far in 2007, 87 percent are sealed. Even once the need for secrecy is over -- because police have the evidence and have pressed charges -- judges rarely allow the public to see who police are searching and why.

5. Gun permits. When the Ohio General Assembly allowed residents to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon, Gov. Bob Taft threatened to veto a provision that would make those permits secret. He later struck a compromise with gun proponents: the permits would be available to journalists for legitimate newsgathering, but not to the public. Effective March 13, the state will close even that small opening. Without those records, the public wouldn't know, for example, that former congressional candidate Paul Hackett was licensed to carry a concealed weapon when he chased down vandals in Indian Hill. Or that Bennie Hall Jr. -- who shot a 14-year-old who was stealing his car in Kennedy Heights -- also had a license.

Do you agree that these records ought to be public? What records ought to be on this list? What is your government not telling you? Let us know. E-mail the Enquirer's First Amendment Desk, leave a comment below, or join the discussion in our message board on this topic.