Basic Public Records Re-Certification

This one-week recertification course is designed for records access officers who currently hold their Basic Public Records Law certification and want to maintain it. Rather than a simple refresher, the program functions as a working session focused on practical execution—the area supervisors now scrutinize most closely. The curriculum centers on applying legal principles to real requests and includes four modules, one live instructor session, and a challenge assessment.

WHAT THE 2026 EDITION ADDS

This cycle introduces three significant updates: Body-Worn Cameras, POST-Era Discipline, and Surveillance Records Nobody Planned For. While the 2025 edition addressed body-worn camera footage primarily in domestic-violence contexts, the central challenge has shifted. Now the focus is on video clips stored on vendor cloud platforms—constituting public records because control, not location, determines status—containing victims, juveniles, bystanders, and officers simultaneously, requiring segregability analysis, redaction assessment, and fee estimation capable of withstanding appeal. The course also covers POST-era certification and discipline records alongside internal-affairs files, plus retention gaps created by automated license-plate readers, drones, and acoustic gunshot detection systems.

WHAT CHANGED SINCE YOUR LAST CYCLE

• The misconduct carve-out has an edge. It reaches sworn law-enforcement officers using the c.6E definition; for those records, sustained-versus-exonerated status is not probative. It does not reach non-sworn or civilian personnel, which still run under the (c) balance.
• The witness shield doesn't cover the officer. Exemption (f) reaches a private witness by voice and identifying context. A public official acting officially is not a shielded witness.
• Section 97D is narrower than people think. Operating through (a), it reaches the report and victim-officer communications, not the whole file.
• Fees are timed from this request. Sample the actual footage in front of you; an average borrowed from past jobs is the estimate that gets cut.
• Over-redaction is its own failure. Blur generously and you lose too. Expect in camera review against the unredacted original.
• The technology outran the schedule. Plate readers, drones, and gunshot detective generate records on vendor platforms, purging on a cycle you did not choose.

WHAT CARRIES FORWARD, UPDATED

• Control, not location. Vendor, contractor, counsel, and personal-device records count. "Not in our system" is not an answer—you are expected to demand it and document the ask.
• Segregation. If any part can be released, it generally must be. Full withholding is the exception and needs its own explanation.
• Volume is a scoping problem. Clarification, extensions, and fees—never a denial for size. A vague request gets narrowed, not refused.
• Fees inside the limits. The two-hour municipal and four-hour state tiers, the $25 cap, chargeable redaction time, and an estimate broken into tasks, time, and rates.
• The four workhorses. (a) identify the law then apply it; (c) classify then balance; (f) start with the harm; (n) name the vulnerability and the path to it.
• What you don't owe. No duty to create a record, answer questions, or do research—the Supervisor decides compliance, not accuracy.

PREREQUISITE

Current certification in Basic Public Records Law

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Emerging technology is revised annually and anchors each cycle.