You also may want to include practical examples for readers (and reporters) on reasons to use your state’s open-government laws. Here are some examples:

• Learn the prior purchase price and assessed value of a home you intend to buy.
• Know who makes campaign contributions to all candidates in statewide elections and all registered political committees (including political action committees).
• Find the lists of registered lobbyists and breakdowns of their contributions to politicians.
• Obtain a record on a specific school listing information on test scores, criminal incidents, suspension rates, educational levels and drop-out rates.
• Check a medical doctor's training or licensing actions and malpractice suits against the doctor.
• Learn about complaints against a business before you contract for work.
• Look at a charitable organization's financial report before you make a donation.
• Check restaurant inspection reports for complaints about cleanliness.
• Find out what's being dumped into the landfill nearest your home.
• Check out zoning information and costs of an expressway planned near your subdivision.
• Find out if a school bus driver has a prior conviction of drunk driving.
• Check the prior records of a teacher arrested on sexual misconduct charges.
• Look up professors' evaluation forms to gain insight into how well students think professors teach.
• Find out what types of crimes are committed in your neighborhood.
• Discover what the school board is planning on redistricting.
• Know if an oil company has the right to drill off your community’s coast.
• Look at the records of a hazardous waste site to see if any poisons seeped into your neighborhood.
• Learn about unusual crimes that may act as a warning to you — such as the time an acupuncturist raped a patient while her body was immobilized by needles.
• Find out the criminal background of the person you're dating.

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Strategies for Coverage | State Sunshine Laws | Reasons to Use Your State Sunshine Laws Examples of Stories Printed Because of FOIA | Practical Reasons to Use Your Federal Open-Government Laws How to Get FOIA Records Faster | Briefs to Explain the Project to Readers