Office of Management and Finance Wants Funding for Public Records Team to Help With Police Backlog

Portland’s Office of Management and Finance is asking for $1.5 million in ongoing funding in the upcoming budget cycle for a new records division that would help speed up the city’s response time to public records requests and to reduce the massive backlog the Portland Police Bureau has accrued.

Heather Hafer, a spokeswoman for OMF, tells WW that the city received nearly 33,000 public records requests in 2020. Currently, PPB has over 18,000 outstanding requests, which is in part due to a 3% increase in requests per month.

The requested $1.5 million from the city’s general fund would allow City Hall to hire additional public records employees, though Hafer says how many is unclear. Those employees would respond to records requests throughout all bureaus, although clearing the PPB backlog would be a priority, according to Hafer.

“Our immediate priority would be clearing the backlog of public records requests for the Portland Police Bureau,” Hafer says. “Once the police backlog is addressed, service would be expanded to take on more of the work across all of the city’s bureaus.”

PPB attributes its backlog to understaffing and a higher workload, according to its records request portal.

“These trained professionals would be prepared to join a public records office when/if council decides to establish one in the future,” she says. “The proposed Public Records Division team would also evaluate ways to make data more readily accessible, reducing the need for people to file records requests over time.”

The City Attorney’s Office is also seeking funding for additional public records employees, according to Jenifer Johnston, senior deputy city attorney.

Hafer also notes that the Police Bureau is “actively hiring additional employees for public records vacancies.”