Alabama releases records to GateHouse Media, ending two-week battle over legal questions
The Alabama State Board of Midwifery released public records requested by GateHouse Media without cost late Friday after a two-week battle that caught the attention of open-records advocates.
The move reversed the board’s initial position that midwives’ addresses are exempt from public record, as well as its requirement that GateHouse Media complete a two-page form committing it to pay unspecified fees and waive property and homestead rights in the event of a failure to pay.
GateHouse Media owns hundreds of newspapers across the U.S. including two Alabama newspapers — The Tuscaloosa News and The Gadsden Times.
“We are pleased that the board provided these records that clearly are in the public’s interest and are not exempt by the state’s sunshine law,” said GateHouse Media National Projects Editor Emily Le Coz. “We also are encouraged by its decision to forgo the use of the overly burdensome form in this case and hope they do away with it completely.”
Read more: https://www.registerguard.com/news/20190409/alabama-releases-records-to-gatehouse-media-ending-two-week-battle-over-legal-questions