Oregon Public Records Law, passed in 1973, was cutting edge for the time. It created a presumption that “any writing that contains information relating to the conduct of the public’s business” could be inspected or copied upon request by anyone. The law enshrined the idea that a government by and for the people also must be open and accountable to the people.
There have been several updates to the law since, most recently in 2017. As of this writing, there is also an Oregon Sunshine Committee that is charged with cleaning up the approximately 600 exemptions that the legislature has passed, limiting the Oregon Public Records Law.
Click here to view Oregon Public Records Law 2017 edition (pdf file).