You asked whether legislators' appointment schedules are public records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Office of Legislative Research is not authorized to give legal opinions and this report should not be considered one. Constituents interested in whether these records are available to the public should contact the Freedom of Information Commission for an opinion.

FOIA, specifically CGS § 1-200 (a), provides in pertinent part:

Except as otherwise provided by any federal law or state statute, all records maintained or kept on file by any public agency, whether or not such records are required by any law or by any rule or regulation, shall be public records and every person shall have the right to . . .   receive a copy of such records….

“Public records or files” means any recorded data or information relating to the conduct of the public's business prepared, owned, used, received, or retained by a public agency, or to which a public agency is entitled to receive a copy by law or contract, whether such data or information is handwritten, typed, tape-recorded, printed, photostated, photographed, or recorded by any other method (CGS § 1-200 (5)).

According to Colleen Murphy, executive director and general counsel of the Freedom of Information Commission, whether a legislator's appointment schedule is a public record is decided on the facts of each case based on a number of different factors.

First, the commission would consider whether the instrument or document used to record the public official's schedule is personally owned or provided by the public agency for the official's business use. If the document or instrument is personally owned, the commission would then consider when data is recorded (i. e. , during hours the official is expected to conduct official business or on his personal time). In a 1998 decision, the commission held that calendar-planners and other similar records that record an official's business, but which were purchased and kept by the official in his personal capacity, are not public records under FOIA (Markman v. Town Manager, Town of Glastonbury and Town of Glastonbury, FIC #1998-039).

If the official's employer-agency provides the instrument or document on which the schedule is recorded, the commission would consider how it is used. If the official enters primarily personal information on his own time, the commission would likely inquire further into (1) how the entries are used and by whom and (2) where the instrument or document is kept. If agency employees and the official use it during normal work hours to keep track of the official's whereabouts, the commission is more likely to find that the document or instrument is a public record and subject to disclosure. However, even in these cases, the official would be able to redact personal, confidential information prior to the disclosure. In addition to personal, confidential information, public officials who are legislators may also redact certain constituent-related information. Constituent-related information is public if it is related to policymaking. In a 1998 declaratory ruling, the commission found that FOIA applies to some, but not all, categories of constituent correspondence to members of the General Assembly. Any recorded data or information prepared, owned, used, received or retained by legislators, including correspondence from constituents, “relating to the conduct of the public's business,” such as enacting legislation and making laws, is a public record under FOIA. However, the records would be subject to the catalogue of mandatory and permissive exemptions to disclosure found throughout federal law and in numerous state statutes (In the Matter of a Request for a Declaratory Ruling, Deputy Majority Leader Connecticut House of Representatives, Declaratory Ruling #90).

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