Editorial: No excuse for delaying documents

Monday, June 14, 2004 | 8:38 a.m.

In the old days, before the Internet, accessing public records was a time-consuming and often costly exercise. Generally a person would have to physically appear at a public clerk's office and first learn how the records were organized. Then it was a matter of pawing through thousands of documents until the ones being sought were found. Often there was another system -- filling out a form and then waiting for the clerk to have time to locate the requested documents. After paying photocopying fees the investment in time and money was often so great that ordinary citizens rarely bothered unless the documents were vital for some personal reason.

The Internet has changed all of this. Public documents are accessible now from homes, libraries or anywhere there is a computer. Governments at all levels have loaded their records onto Web sites, saving citizens time and money. The system is a godsend, unless public agencies decide to hold some documents back.

This is what is happening with the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners. The board is refusing to load complete reports of its disciplinary actions against doctors onto its Web site. The records are public and should be as accessible as the records showing the medical schools from which doctors graduated. But they're not. The board insists that anyone who desires this information obtain it via a variation of the old-fashioned way. The board is making people call its office in Reno and make a formal request for the documents, which will be released only upon receipt of money equaling 60 cents a page. Such documents can be 100 pages or more. Then the caller must wait for the documents to be sent through regular mail.

The board justifies this misuse of public records by saying it must protect doctors from widespread release of the information, because at some point the disciplinary action might be overturned. This would be like judges barring the public from courtrooms, because at some point the verdict might be overturned on appeal. The board's disciplinary actions against doctors are public records and should be as accessible as technology allows.