ACCESS TO LOCAL-GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL REPORTS

Citizens' rights to local government information is based on laws rega rding open records within the state of the local government entity. Ge nerally, these laws acknowledge a citizen's right to know any desired information within a reasonable time period and without a need to just ify the request. Based on anecdotal evidence that small local governme nts may not comply with such laws, a field study was conducted whereby individuals requested annual financial reports from 87 local governme nt organizations in Missouri. With few exceptions, the individuals wer e successful in obtaining the requested financial reports in complianc e with the Missouri Open Records Law. The results of this study sugges t that anecdotes about individuals' inability to obtain financial info rmation from local governments may not be a correct indicator of the i nformation dissemination practices of local governments.