The Gilbert Town Council is exploring changes to its public records request process in response to growing concerns over abuse of the system.
Council members at a study session March 25 directed staff to research potential changes and collaborate with other Arizona municipalities to explore best practices.
Council also discussed lobbying for state-level reform to add restrictions or costs for excessive or frivolous requests.
As a potential solution, Councilmember Jim Torgeson suggested the public release of all emails from council members, stating it could reduce the need for individual requests.
“If it can be done for a reasonable number and just open everything up, I have nothing to hide,” Torgeson said, arguing that making emails public by default would reduce costly, time-consuming requests. “I’m sure nobody here has anything to hide. I want to stop the abuse.”
The council also asked staff to consider policy changes such as providing records only through physical media, such as thumb drives, instead of electronic links. This would require requesters to pick up records in person, potentially deterring what some council members deemed frivolous anonymous requests.
Public records process in Gilbert
Under Arizona law, municipalities like Gilbert must comply with Arizona Public Records Law, which requires public records to be promptly furnished upon request.
Unlike the Freedom of Information Act, which applies to federal agencies, Arizona’s law applies to state and local governments. Requesters are not required to identify themselves or disclose their purpose unless they declare it is for commercial use.
Gilbert uses a platform called JustFOIA to manage and process public records requests. The town implemented the system in 2018 to improve efficiency and transparency.
However, processing requests is still highly labor-intensive, town officials said. Even with the system, requests require extensive manual review to redact confidential information, such as personally identifiable information and attorney-client privileged content.
“There’s a huge organizational impact involved,” Town Clerk Chaveli Herrera said. “It’s a responsibility for everybody to be able to assist with fulfillment of public records, whether it’s compiling the data, reviewing the data, redacting, coordinating multiple department requests.”
Growing burden on town resources
Gilbert has seen a surge in public records requests, making it one of the most inundated municipalities in the country, Herrera said.
In 2023, town data shows Gilbert completed 24,373 requests but received 25,492, creating a backlog.
Furthermore, the requests are increasingly complex, with some involving thousands of emails, attachments, and hours of video footage.
During the meeting, the town provided examples of the demands some requests place on staff. One request sought all emails and text messages between two council members over a single month. The result was 3,100 emails and 730 attachments, requiring 40 hours of legal review. The estimated cost to the town for this single request was $2,000.
“There are some people that are abusing the system using multiple emails,” Torgeson said. “We’ve got some people doing massive abuse of the system.”
Financial, staffing impacts
Fulfilling public records requests requires significant resources. The Gilbert Police Department alone spends approximately $2.1 million annually on personnel dedicated to processing public records.
Across the town, dedicated staff positions, including legal reviewers, paralegals, and administrative assistants, spend hundreds of hours handling requests.
Town Attorney Chris Payne noted that the town attorney’s office spends $300,000 to $350,000 annually on legal staff time related to public records reviews.
“(Courts) give deference to the public records law,” Payne said, highlighting the town's obligation to comply.
However, he said extremely broad or abusive requests can be denied if the town can justify that fulfilling them would significantly disrupt operations.
Preventing system abuse
Council members voiced frustration over the current system, noting that Gilbert handles more public records requests than even major cities like Chicago.
They said some of the requests appear to be coordinated harassment, suggesting they were using multiple email accounts to evade detection.
“We are very limited in what we’re able to do with the way statutes (are) currently written,” Herrera said. “It would require changes at the state level for us to make any substantial changes to our process.”
Torgeson called for legislative action, urging the town to lobby the Arizona Legislature to modify public records laws. He proposed that even small administrative fees per request could reduce frivolous or abusive filings.
Payne agreed.
“Personally, I don’t think it would take much,” he said. “If you require a requester to have a little bit of skin in the game … even small (fees) I think would help.”
We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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