HIGH COSTS COULD EFFECTIVELY CLOSE RECORDS

Getting Missouri's bingo records from officials in Jefferson City can be a difficult task, as this newspaper discovered.

It took two months for the Southeast Missourian to obtain from the state the 1997 quarterly financial reports on bingo operations run by nine organizations in Cape Girardeau County.

The newspaper initially had requested financial records on the nearly 100 bingo organizations in Southeast Missouri.

But the newspaper scaled back its request after being told by the Missouri Gaming Commission's Bingo Division that it would cost more than $1,000 in duplicating and research costs.

Even then, the state wanted to charge this newspaper $140 for the records of bingo organizations just in Cape Girardeau County.

That cost is too high, especially for private citizens seeking this public data. After all, any citizen has the right to ask for an receive state records. Through the efforts of state Sen. Peter Kinder, the newspaper obtained the records for free. But the newspaper shouldn't have had to go that route. Nor should anyone else. Clearly there is a double standard in some state agencies for providing records for free in some cases and charge in other instances.

Missouri's Open Meetings and Open Records Law means little if state agencies can get away with charging a small fortune for public records.

Information isn't accessible if the public can't afford to pay for it. The state has a legal obligation to make its records accessible to the news media and the public.

The Legislature strengthened the Sunshine Law in the just completed session. But the legislation doesn't ensure that state agencies like the Missouri Gaming Commission won't continue to put a high price on open records.