Here's what constitutes compliance

The goal of the statewide public records access audit was to simulate a visit by an ordinary citizen seeking information on how government works, how taxpayer dollars are spent and what's happening in his or her community.

Here's a look at each document requested and what was considered compliance and noncompliance:

Crime logs, incident reports

The goal: Determine if a citizen can find out what incidents have occurred in his or her neighborhood and get specific information on one incident.

Records sought: Auditors asked to see the list of calls to which officers responded during the previous two days. If they received that information, auditors asked to review and copy a report on a simple property crime, such as a theft.

Compliance: The list of incidents had to include locations, type of crime, date and time. The same information had to be included in the incident report. As was the case with all documents, if officials promised to mail the records, they had to arrive within 2 1/2 weeks.

Jail logs

The goal: Determine if a citizen can find out who is being held in the main county jail.

Record sought: Auditors asked to review a list of those booked into the jail and look for entries on the date one week before the visit.

Compliance: The list had to include the name of the person booked, the alleged offense and the person's address and age.

School district records

The goal: Determine if a citizen can find out how the school superintendent is spending taxpayer money.

Record sought: Auditors asked to review the superintendent's most recent expense reimbursement forms.

Compliance: Auditors had to receive a copy of the expense report and any receipts associated with it.

Planning and zoning reports

The goal: Determine if a citizen can learn what requests for zoning variance are under review in a city or county.

Records sought: Auditors first asked to review and copy the minutes from the last meeting. Then they asked to review and copy a specific request for zoning variance.

Compliance: Auditors had to receive a copy of the minutes and the request for zoning variance.