Department of Attorney General Rules and Regulations Regarding Training under the Access to Public Records Act

A.The Chief Administrative Officer, as defined by the Access to Public Records Act, must certify annually, as provided in R.I. Gen. Laws § 38-2-3.16 (“compliance by agencies and public bodies”), that persons who have the authority to grant or deny Access to Public Records Act requests have received training for the upcoming calendar year. Individuals must be certified each calendar year.

B.Any person who has not received training prior to the beginning of the calendar year, but who during the calendar year becomes authorized to grant or deny Access to Public Records Act requests, shall receive training as required under the Access to Public Records Act as soon as practicable, but not less than one (1) month after being authorized to grant or deny Access to Public Records Act requests. Such time may be extended at the discretion of the Department of Attorney General for “good cause.” The Chief Administrative Officer must certify to the Attorney General that training has been received when training has been completed.

C.Authorized training must be conducted by the Department of Attorney General. The Department of Attorney General will offer various training programs throughout each calendar year and such training programs will be conducted at various locations throughout the State. Public bodies or governmental entities wishing to schedule training sessions may contact the Department of Attorney General. Public entities wishing to schedule Access to Public Records Act training should make every effort to schedule training sessions to as large a group as practicable. The Department of Attorney General reserves the sole discretion to determine whether and when to schedule a training session.

D.For purposes of these Rules and Regulations the requirement for training may be satisfied by attending an Attorney General training in person or by viewing a recent video of an Access to Public Records Act presentation given by the Department of Attorney General. Any person satisfying the Access to Public Records Act training requirement must certify to the Chief Administrative Officer that he or she viewed the entire Access to Public Records Act presentation, or attended the live training program, and such certification shall be forwarded by the Chief Administrative Officer to the Department of Attorney General.

E.Certification may be e-mailed to [email protected], or mailed to the Department of Attorney General, Attn: Public Records Unit, 150 South Main Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903. Certification forms are available on the Department of Attorney General Website.

F.The Attorney General may annually prepare and post a list of all certifications received by the office by public bodies.

G.The Department of Attorney General may assess a reasonable charge for the certification required by R.I. Gen. Laws § 38-2-3.16, is to defray the cost of such training and related materials.