Workshop to inform on free info

Michelle Seeber

Attorneys who work for the state of New Mexico will hold a workshop on the Open Meetings Act and the Inspection of Public Records Act on Friday in Clovis.

The workshop is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon at the Clovis-Carver Public Library’s North Annex.

Attorneys presenting the workshop are from New Mexico’s Civil Division, said coordinator Luis Carrasco. They will be presenting the workshop with the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, a not-for-profit government watchdog that helps the public obtain records of public bodies and meetings.

Carrasco said the workshops are being held as part of a project spurred by Attorney General Patricia Madrid.

Spokesman Paul Nixon of the Attorney General’s Office said Madrid “has always been an advocate of open meetings and open government, and she just wants to make sure that both members of the community and local officials know the laws that keep meetings open.

“These workshops are being held across the state in all the different areas,” Nixon said.

Carrasco said both the Open Meetings Act and Inspection of Public Records Act are New Mexico laws that apply to public bodies.

“These are regulations public bodies have to comply with to ensure the public is afforded the most maximum information,” he said. “Any person can essentially go about obtaining information from a public body. This is to ensure that people are able to access information about the affairs of government and people who represent them.”

Nixon said, “The attorney general really encourages anyone involved in government or who is watching their government to attend this and learn more.”

The workshop is designed to help local governments, members of public boards and commissions, and the general public understand open government laws, Nixon said.