The Connecticut Appellate Court held that where members of the public verbally requested copies of documents that the planning and zoning commission were discussing at that meeting, the Commission’s refusal to provide copies at that time did not violate the State Freedom of Information Act. Noting that the applicable state statute provides three methods for requesting access to government records, and that the members of the public chose to request copies (as opposed to inspection or copying). That section of the statute provides in relevant part that, “Any person applying in writing shall receive, promptly upon request, a plain or certified copy of any public record…” (emphasis added). The Court determined that the plain language of the statute requires a request to be in writing, and here the request was made verbally. In fact, later, when the request was made in writing, the documents were provided. Further, the Court held that by denying the initial verbal request for the documents, the Commission did not violate the promptness requirement in the statute.
Planning and Zoning Commission of the Town of Pomfret v Freedom of Information Commission, 2011 WL 3200317 (Conn. App. 8/2/2011).
The opinion can be accessed at: http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROap/AP130/130AP512.pdf
