Records laws differ state to state

Some groups that boost SEC teams more open than others

Fundraising arms and nonprofit foundations that support other Southeastern Conference teams play by different rules when it comes to transparency.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Feb. 21 filed open-records requests with the foundations or athletics fundraising arms supporting the 13 public universities in the SEC. The requests sought copies of each group's organizational chart and fiscal 2018 budget.

The newspaper filed the requests while examining the relationship between the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and the nonprofit Razorback Foundation. The nonprofit's director has said the foundation is not subject to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Open-records laws differ by state. They apply to university foundations in at least 11 states, either by court ruling or state law, but the degree to which they apply to Arkansas nonprofit foundations is unresolved.

The Razorback Foundation denied the records request in full.

The foundations supporting Auburn University has not responded to the February requests. Alabama's public-records law says organizations must respond in a "reasonable" amount of time but sets no firm timetable.

The Crimson Tide Foundation did not have records responsive to a request for the foundation’s organizational chart and fiscal 2018 budget, according to a University of Alabama spokesman.*

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville's foundation provided a link to its staff and gave a number for its projected fiscal 2018 budget, but did not provide the requested records.

A fourth school, the University of Georgia, does not have to respond until June because of a 2016 law that gives colleges and universities 90 days to respond to open-records requests that relate to athletics. The Georgia Bulldog Club forwarded the request to the university.

Four of the remaining eight schools, either through the university or its foundation, fulfilled the request in full: the University of Kentucky, the University of South Carolina, the University of Missouri and the University of Florida.

Florida's foundation, the University of Florida Athletic Association, maintains that it is not subject to its state's open-records law.

"However, we generally will provide non-confidential records or portions of records as an accommodation to the public," said Dustin Ciraco, its assistant director of communications.

The Ole Miss Athletics Foundation provided a copy of its organizational chart but not its budget. Keith Carter, the foundation's executive director, provided a link to some financial information, but said the foundation is a separate nonprofit that is not obligated to fulfill records requests.

Foundations supporting Mississippi State University, Louisiana State University and Texas A&M University denied the requests in full, with officials saying they are not subject to their respective state laws.

Information for this article was contributed by Meg Scarbrough of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.


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*CORRECTION: The Crimson Tide Foundation did not have records responsive to a request for the foundation’s organizational chart and fiscal 2018 budget, according to a University of Alabama spokesperson. A previous version of this article misstated the response to the request from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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