The second Sunshine Week open government initiative is being observed this week (March 12-18). The weeklong observance, which expands on the Sunshine Sunday concept begun in Florida in 2002, is a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.

Sunshine Week, coordinated by the National Society of Newspaper Editors, is not about protecting journalists' rights, it's about the right of all citizens to know what their government is doing - and why.

Access to public records and meetings allows citizens to hold government leaders accountable. Public records such as birth and death notices, environmental permits, assessed property valuations, sexual offender's registry are just a few of the documents available to the public that can help citizens determine whether their public officials are acting in their best interest.

The Access to Public Records Act and the Open Door Law are laws in Indiana that allow citizens access to their state and local government. By having access to records and meetings of governing bodies, citizens can keep informed of the actions of their elected officials and agencies that spend their tax dollars.

As more government records are being put on the Internet every day, citizens have an increasing opportunity to view and use public records.

Several years ago Indiana created a special position, public access counselor, to help public officials and citizens understand the Open Door Law and Access to Public Records Act. Our current public access counselor is Karen Davis.

To help keep citizens informed, the Comet publishes a listing of public notice advertising on page 4A. This list includes notices such as environmental permits, alcoholic beverage permits, bid solicitations for construction and equipment over a certain amount, sheriff sales, etc. The toll free number for the public access counselor is printed there each week.

National Sunshine Week reminds us that it is in all of our best interest to care about government accountability.