Gov. Butch Otter seemed a bit surprised this morning that he’d already received a public records request for documents related to his move to create a public records ombudsman position in his office. “Did you hear about that?” he asked reporters before his press conference, referring to the request from AP reporter Rebecca Boone. “She asked for a public records on the executive order I’m signing about public records today!” When a reporter – OK, it was me – responded, “What a great idea!” a laughing Otter said, “You guys – get outta here.”

Boone’s request seeks “all documents, correspondence, notes, phone messages, emails, text messages and other records regarding the creation of a public records ombudsman position by the Governor’s office,” along with policy or procedure documents on how to respond to public records requests both before and after the creation of the office, and all drafts and previous versions of the executive order creating the ombudsman position.

That final item may be of special note, considering that Otter spokesman Jon Hanian told the Idaho Statesman, in an article printed today, that the new ombudsman would take requests from those who've had a public records request denied, in whole or in part, within 90 days of the denial, and issue an opinion within 10 business days. “We think it will add another check and balance in the process of transparency,” Hanian told Statesman reporter Cynthia Sewell. But the order Otter signed today doesn’t include that process.

The governor said that’s his vision for what his new ombudsman would do, but first the attorney, Cally Younger, will gather information about how agencies handle requests now and help formulate proposals for improvements, some of which might require legislation. Hanian said today that the 90-day time frame “was in the earlier working draft; it was not in the executive order he signed today.” He said Otter left that out of today’s order because “he wants all of the particulars that deal with the process … as well as the time frame … to be part of the dialogue that he spoke about this morning. So it may end up being 90 days, it may be shorter than that or longer than that. … This will get the ball rolling on it and we can start fine-tuning it.”