By KEN KUSMER

Associated Press Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The state office charged with making government more open should have the power to punish officials who break sunshine laws, a survey of those who’ve turned to it showed Wednesday.

Nearly 91 percent of respondents to the survey billed as the first of its kind in the nation said Indiana’s office of Public Access Counselor should be able to levy fines and take other enforcement actions, said the poll’s sponsor, the Indiana Coalition for Open Government.

State law currently does not grant any enforcement authority to the office, which issues advisory opinions.

“Clearly, users believe that the PAC’s lack of enforcement power is a weakness that needs to be addressed,” said Keith Robinson, president of ICOG, which promotes access to public records and meetings. Robinson is The Associated Press bureau chief in Indianapolis.

Indiana University’s Center for Survey Research conducted the study in September, questioning 120 people who had contacted the PAC during a two-year period ending last July 30.

Indiana’s current public access counselor, Heather Neal, said state law gives the authority for enforcing open government laws to the courts. Plaintiffs who sue government bodies in such cases and win can recover attorney’s fees under the law, she said.

“That’s the mechanism the Legislature provided,” Neal said.

Neal also noted that she has only one staff person besides herself to run the office, which issues 300 or more formal opinions per year.

“I just don’t know how we can do anymore,” Neal said.

Then-Gov. Frank O’Bannon created the office by executive order in 1998 after seven Indiana newspapers, after checking public records in all 92 counties, found widespread violations or lack of disclosure by public officials. The Legislature made the office permanent in 1999, but its budget and staffing have remained nearly unchanged.

Robinson said ICOG distributed copies of the survey to all 150 members of the General Assembly and to Gov. Mitch Daniels on Wednesday.

However, with the Legislature expected to focus its attention on property tax reform during the legislative session that begins Tuesday, ICOG has not decided yet whether it will seek a state law giving the access counselor’s office more authority, Robinson said.

The survey’s other findings included:

— More than two-thirds or respondents, 69 percent, said the access counselor advised they should have had access to records or meetings, and 19 percent of those respondents pursued further legal action to obtain access.

— Asked to rate their experiences with the PAC office, 68 percent replied “excellent” or “good” and 17 percent said the experience was “poor.”

— About 58 percent of respondents rated Indiana’s sunshine laws as “excellent” or “good.”

— Only 24 percent of respondents had contacted legislators to recommend improvements to Indiana sunshine laws.

The National Freedom of Information Coalition based in Columbia, Mo., reported last year that 16 states have some kind of agency or official to review complaints about access to public meetings and records, but only Connecticut’s has broad enforcement powers.

The coalition provided an $11,600 grant to pay for the ICOG survey.

The Indiana survey was the first of its kind in the nation, coalition Director Charles Davis said.

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Indiana Coalition for Open Government: www.indianacog.org

Posted 1/3/2008