< anyone who violates this law (and leaves office) will face zero consequences. That’s because it is a civil law, not a criminal law, and penalties only apply to current federal employees.>

This is one of the biggest problems with the way Public Records laws are written.  The Feds and most states have no serious penalty in place for violation of what is stated to be a civil law.  Many states have almost no penalty in the laws at all.  It’s very difficult to get state and local employees, and especially “elected officials” (who consider themselves outside the law) to obey the law’s requirements.  I have dealt with this issue my whole RIM career and have not yet seen any improvement.

Ginny Jones
(Virginia A. Jones, CRM, FAI)
Records Manager
Information Technology Division
Newport News Dept. of Public Utilities
Newport News, VA
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