Public institutions face scrutiny over records access barriers

Public institutions and federal agencies are facing scrutiny over barriers to accessing public records. At the state level, the Colorado State University System maintains a policy requiring requests to be submitted via mail or fax, citing concerns over spam and incorrect email accounts. Additionally, high fees have been used as a deterrent; for example, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth previously issued an estimate of $357,400 to fulfill a request for seven months of emails.

At the university level, staff at The Crimson White reported delays and rejections for “overbroad” requests when attempting to access information from the University of Alabama.

Nationally, the federal government is experiencing a crisis in transparency. Following the appointment of Elon Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, reports suggest that workforce cuts may have slowed access to records. In the 2025 fiscal year, the federal government processed a record 1.6 million requests, but the rate of document release fell to 47%, the lowest since 2010.