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2010 Annual Report Indiana Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2010)

handle is hein.sag/sagin0126 and id is 1 raw text is: ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INDIANA PUBLIC ACCESS COUNSELOR
To the Indiana General Assembly
July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010
Pursuant to Ind. Code § 5-14-4-12, the Indiana Public Access Counselor (PAC) hereby
submits this annual report of activities for the time period covering July 1, 2009 through June 30,
2010.1 This report is presented in three parts: in Part I a narrative summary of the activities of the
PAC; in Part II the information required to be submitted pursuant to I.C. § 5-14-4-12; and in Part III
appendices listing presentations given and advisory opinions issued in the past year.
PART I
Annual Report Narrative
Public Access Counselor and Staff
On July 1, 2007, Governor Daniels appointed Public Access Counselor Heather Willis Neal
to a four-year term of office ending June 30, 2011. On August 21, 2009, Counselor Neal resigned
to accept a position with the Indiana Department of Education. Subsequently, Governor Daniels
appointed Andrew J. Kossack to serve as public access counselor for the balance of Counselor
Neal's term. Counselor Kossack took office on September 7, 2009,
The PAC also employs one full-time administrative assistant. However, that position is
open as of June 30, 2010, due to the assistant's departure on June 25, 2010, for employment in the
private sector. The PAC is in the process of recruiting a replacement.
Advisory Opinions
From July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010, the PAC issued 289 written advisory opinions in
response to formal complaints. See I.C. 5-14-5 regarding the complaint process. Thirteen (13)
complaints were pending as of June 30, 2010. Pursuant to I.C. § 5-14-5-9, an advisory opinion
must be issued within thirty days of receipt of a formal complaint. The deadline for priority
complaints is seven days. I.C. § 5-14-5-10; 62 IAC 1. The PAC met the statutory requirement for
timely issuance of advisory opinions. A detailed list of advisory opinions follows in Appendix B.
Informal Opinions
In addition to advisory opinions in response to formal complaints, the PAC issues written
informal opinions in response to written informal inquiries. Upon taking office on September 7,
2009, the current PAC found a backlog of requests for informal opinions. As of June 30, 2010, the
current PAC and assistant cleared that backlog. The established turn-around time for those informal
opinions is now approximately one week. The PAC issued 57 informal opinions for the period July
1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. For the third and fourth quarters of 2009, the PAC maintained an average
turn-around time of approximately fifty (50) and forty-four (44) days, respectively. For the first and
second quarters of 2009, the PAC significantly improved the average turn-around time to six (6)
and seven (7) days, respectively.

All data were compiled as of 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 30, 2010.

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