As governments contend with the challenges of keeping information safe from hackers, they must simultaneously comply with state and local transparency laws that require them to make records of communications available to the public. Messaging apps that don’t create an archived record of conversations create more work when responding to public-records requests and leave government entities vulnerable to complaints and lawsuits. EIE Legal is compiling a list of nationwide text messaging lawsuits being brought against government entities to demonstrate the growing problem.
Cedar City, UT City Council messaged about a city issue in a group text, then acknowledges it was technically a violation of the state’s Open and Public Meetings Act and reads the messages to make them officially part of the public record.

Reporter Mark Greenburg sites data showing "that SUSD Governing Board members Barbara Perleberg, Sandy Kravetz, Pam Kirby and Kim Hartmann exchanged more than 1,890 sequential text messages and phone calls from 4/11/18 through 12/31/18, conducting board meetings via text and telephone, away from the prying eyes of voters, and exchanged text messages with each other during 2018 Governing Board meetings." The text messaging continued into 2019.  

According to an assistant state attorney general multiple Council members violated Louisiana's open meetings law by discussing how to get the votes needed to adopt a change in the local government charter over text messages. 

Read about the importance of preserving information on mobile devices in the recent Illinois State Bar Association article,  "Lost Text Messages Lead to Sanctions"  by George Bellas.
Jenna Garland is facing criminal charges for alleged failure to comply with Georgia’s open records law. She faces two misdemeanor charges, but they represent the first time in Georgia history that any public official has been criminally charged under the state’s open records law. 

EIE Exhibiting at IMLA's 84th Annual Conference
Stop by our booth:
September 18-22, 2019
Atlanta, Georgia
Secure Messaging App for Government
EIE Legal is an encrypted messaging app specifically designed to meet the needs of government entities and ease compliance with FOIA, Open Meetings Act or Sunshine regulations. EIE Legal provides complete privacy and gives users an efficient, encrypted means of communication with staff and colleagues.

In order to take every step possible to protect your communications, choose a messaging platform that has end-to-end encryption and archiving technology. EIE Legal allows users to print or save copies off archived records. The difference with our app is the “encrypted transparency.” TM
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