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2009 Indiana Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2009)

handle is hein.sag/sagin0009 and id is 1 raw text is: ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INDIANA PUBLIC ACCESS COUNSELOR
To the Indiana General Assembly
July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009
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, 2008 through June 30,
2009.1 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. The PAC also employs one full-time
administrative assistant. During FY09, the counselor took a maternity leave. During the leave, the
counselor continued to issue written advisory and informal opinions.
Advisory Opinions
From July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009, the PAC issued 226 written advisory opinions in
response to formal complaints. See I.C. 5-14-5 regarding the complaint process. Seven complaints
were pending as of June 30, 2009. 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 July 1, 2007, the
current PAC found a backlog of requests for informal opinions, with some of those requests dating
back to 2005. As of February 8, 2008, the current PAC and assistant cleared that backlog. The
established turn-around time for those informal opinions is now approximately three weeks. The
PAC issued 47 informal opinions for the period July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009. For the third and
fourth quarters of 2008, the PAC maintained an average turn-around time of approximately fifteen
and eleven days, respectively. For the first and second quarters of 2009, which were affected by the
counselor's maternity leave, the PAC maintained an average turn-around time of 42 and 28 days,
respectively.
Telephone and Electronic Mail Inquiries
From July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009, the two PAC staff members received and responded to
2,270 inquiries via telephone and electronic mail.

1 All data were compiled as of 9:00a.m. on Tuesday, June 30, 2009.

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