Publicly funded organizations often must comply with state freedom of information laws.  For example:

• ESPN reported in October that a Florida judge ordered the release of documents related to cheating by Florida State University football players. While the decision was controversial, Florida State is a public university that receives government funding, so university documents qualify as public records under the Florida Sunshine Law.

• Federally funded biomedical research projects conducted at universities, hospitals and other research institutions have been compiled into a searchable online database by the National Institutes of Health.

Typically, an institution that receives a majority of its funding from the state is then subject to public records requests, but each state has a different interpretation.  Compiled from individual state laws and relevant court decisions, following is a summary of which states consider these institutions’ records to be public:

All publicly funded institutions are subject to public records laws:

• Alaska Public Records Act
• Arizona Public Records Law
• Arkansas Freedom of Information Act
• Colorado Open Records Act
• Delaware Freedom of Information Act
• Georgia Public Records Act
• Illinois Freedom of Information Act
• Indiana Access to Public Records Act
• Indiana Access to Public Records Act
• Iowa Open Records Act
• Kansas Open Records Act
• Minnesota Data Practices Act
• Nebraska Public Records Law
• New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act
• North Dakota Open Records Statute
• Oklahoma Open Records Act
• South Carolina Freedom of Information Act
• Tennessee Open Records Act
• Texas Public Information Act

Some publicly funded institutions are subject to public records laws:

• California Public Records Act and the California Legislative Open Records Act
• Connecticut Freedom of Information Act
• Florida Sunshine Law
• Louisiana Public Records Act
• Michigan Freedom of Information Act
• Missouri Sunshine Law
• Nevada Open Records Act
• North Carolina Public Records Law
• Ohio Open Records Law
• Oregon Public Records Law
• Pennsylvania Right to Know Law
• Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act
• Utah Government Records Access and Management Act
• Vermont Public Records Law
• Virginia Freedom of Information Act
• West Virginia Freedom of Information Act
• Wisconsin Open Records Law

Publicly funded institutions are not necessarily subject to public records laws:

• Mississippi Public Records Act
• New Jersey Open Records Act
• Wyoming Sunshine Law

There is no precedent or mention of publicly funded institutions in public records laws:

• Alabama Public Records Law
• District of Columbia Freedom of Information Act
• Hawaii Uniform Information Practices Act
• Idaho Public Records Act
• Maine Freedom of Access Act
• Maryland Public Information Act
• Massachusetts Public Records Act
• Montana Public Records Act
• New Hampshire Right to Know Law
• New York Freedom of Information Law
• South Dakota Sunshine Act
• Washington Public Records Act

For more detailed information about your state’s public records laws, visit the Sunshine Review.