Prineville, Ore. — The Crook County Board of Commissioners has approved a new public records policy, marking the second major phase of an ongoing transparency initiative championed by Commissioner Seth Crawford with unanimous support from other commissioners.
The efforts were part of one of the commissioner’s early requests made of Crook County Manager Will Van Vactor to address after he formally was appointed to the role in November of 2024.
The policy follows months of reforms that included changes to public meetings procedures, expanded online access to government information, and a restructuring of how the county handles public records requests. County officials say the latest changes are intended to improve transparency, increase efficiency, reduce costs, and ensure compliance with Oregon’s public records laws.
The policy’s adoption also represents the culmination of a process that began earlier this year when the Board of Commissioners voted to remove County Counsel Eric Blaine from the county’s day-to-day public records administration and designate Van Vactor as the interim records custodian while a comprehensive review was conducted.
At the time, commissioners cited a desire to align county practices with statewide norms, improve efficiency, and address concerns raised by the Oregon Public Records Advocate regarding the county’s previous approach to handling records requests.
According to Crawford, the new policy is intended to create a more streamlined process, provide faster responses to requesters, and establish clearer standards for when fees may be charged.
“Most importantly, if you are charged, the fee will be reduced because of the different staff that we’re using,” Crawford said.
Van Vactor said the county sought to create a process that was both more transparent and more efficient.
“I think the need for kind of a hard look at our policy arose after having some public records requests come up that required quite a bit of attention,” Van Vactor said. “The commissioners identified an opportunity to not only improve transparency around public records but also improve efficiency and update our policy to reflect those goals.”
Van Vactor said the county retained outside counsel to assist with reviewing existing practices and helping draft the new policy.
“We really focused in on that efficiency component,” he said. “Can we find a spot where public records can be processed that might be more cost effective? How can we get the records to the requester as quickly as possible?”
County officials say the changes are expected to lower costs for both the county (and ultimately taxpayers) and members of the public seeking records.
“It costs less for us as the taxpayers, the entity, and so for the taxpayer, but also makes it less expensive for the citizens,” Crawford said.
Under the new policy, public records requests are now tracked through a centralized system managed by the administration office. Van Vactor said county staff maintain a detailed spreadsheet that allows them to monitor requests from receipt through completion.
The tracking system is designed to help ensure compliance with Oregon’s statutory deadlines, including the requirement to acknowledge requests within five business days and provide additional responses within timelines established by state law.
“We make sure the way we track helps us ensure that we’re hitting that five-day acknowledgement,” Van Vactor said. “All of those benchmarks that are set in statute are now clearly codified in our own policy and we can clearly track all of them.”
Van Vactor noted that many requests can still be fulfilled immediately without requiring a lengthy review process.
“Some of those documents are right there, easily available, or we know where to find them quickly, and we can shoot them out,” he said. “That quick response not only helps the requester get the document quickly, but also helps us move on with the rest of our day and the work we’re trying to get done.”
The public records overhaul follows an earlier phase of the county’s transparency initiative focused on public meetings compliance.
Over the past year, county officials revised meeting notice procedures, improved internal processes for posting agendas and notices, and accelerated the publication of meeting recordings online. Crawford said the county has received positive feedback from residents who appreciate being able to watch meetings after they occur.
“We have heard people really appreciate seeing those videos sooner than later because people are really interested in what the county is doing,” Crawford said.
Meeting recordings are typically posted within a few days, allowing residents who are unable to attend meetings in person or watch live streams to stay informed about county decisions and discussions.
Crawford said those efforts remain ongoing as the county continues evaluating new software and additional improvements to public access.
“I think we generally do a good job, but whenever we do get ideas or critiques, we take that to heart,” he said. “We’re going to continue to streamline that as well … and continue trying to be as transparent as possible.”
The transparency initiative has also extended beyond public meetings and records requests. In recent months, the county launched a redesigned website aimed at making it easier for residents to access county services, locate information from individual departments, review meeting materials, and stay informed about county government activities.
County officials say the website improvements, public meetings reforms, and public records overhaul are all intended to reduce barriers between county government and the public while making government information more accessible.
Van Vactor credited county staff and outside partners for helping implement the new policy, including Executive Assistant Brianna Cupp, who now plays a key role in coordinating records requests and ensuring compliance with the county’s procedures and state law.
The new public records policy was officially passed on May 20th by the commissioners.
Mr. Alderman is an investigative journalist specializing in government transparency, non-profit accountability, consumer protection, and is a subject matter expert on Oregon’s public records and meetings laws. As a former U.S. Army Military Police Officer, he brings a disciplined investigative approach to his reporting that has frequently exposed ethics violations, financial mismanagement, and transparency failures by public officials and agencies.
