Wyoming is among eleven states who received an F for the lack of transparency and accountability in government.
The Center for Public Integrity dinged Wyoming for having few laws when it comes to government ethics enforcement and for the lack of government and judicial accountability.
The report called most Wyoming laws vague and complained that few documents are online. It was also was critical of Wyoming’s open record laws. Wyoming Press Association Executive Director Jim Angell actually thinks most of the laws are good.
“I truly believe, at least in theory, we have some of the best public document and open meetings laws in the country because they are so broad and because the presumption is on openness, and the Supreme Court has backed that up 17 times.”
Angell says the problem comes when public agencies deny access to documents, and those who are seeking them are forced to take the matter to court, which can be costly. The entire report can be found at publicintegrity.org.
