Sunshine training

Today, government officials from around the area are invited to one of two workshops offered by the the Missouri attorney general's office to educate them about the state's open meetings and open records law, called the Sunshine Law.

The sessions are at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Cape Girardeau County administration building in Jackson.

Tom Durkin, public education director for the attorney general's office, will lead the workshops. The Jackson workshops are part of Durkin's effort to hold similar events in all of Missouri's 114 counties.

"Freedom in America is a citizen's opportunity to participate and understand what's going on in government," Durkin said. "So the open records law is part of that freedom, I would hope people would understand this is the essence of what and who we are as a nation."

Similar workshops in the past have been well attended. As new officeholders and those involved in government administration come on board, there is a need for continuing education in the area of the Sunshine Law.

Today's sessions will give government officials an opportunity to learn and an opportunity to raise questions about situations they confront on a regular basis.