Title 5 — Government Operations

This Chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the “Sunshine Reform Act of 1999.” SOURCE: GC § 6980 as added by P.L. 18-047:1 (Jan. 2, 1987), amended by P.L. 19-005:136 (Aug. 21, 1987). Codified by the Compiler to this section. Repealed and reenacted by P.L. 25-006:2 (May 12, …

As used in this Chapter: (a) Agency means any authority of the government and includes a department, institution, board, bureau, commission, council, committee of Guam government, branch, autonomous instrumentality, public corporation funded by public taxes or funds, or other pub…

(a) Every person has the right to inspect and take a copy of any public document on Guam, except as otherwise expressly prohibited in law, and except as provided in § 10108 of this Chapter. (b) Public records are open to inspection at all times during the office hours of the agen…

(a) None of the following documents may be inspected and copied pursuant to § 10103 of this Chapter, unless permitted by any other law of Guam: (1) files involving the investigation of any person, real or legal, for the commission of any crime; provided, however, that this Sectio…

(a) To ensure expedient disclosure of records by an agency, the Director of an agency shall require all personnel in charge of receiving any incoming mail, electronic mail, faxed documents or other communications to immediately notify the Director or his designee upon receipt of …

(a) Every agency shall establish written guidelines for accessibility of records and stating the procedures to be followed when making its records available in accordance with this Chapter. The guidelines shall include a mailing address, fax number and electronic mail address to …

(a) On or before February 1 of each year, each agency shall submit to the Attorney General of Guam a report which shall cover the preceding fiscal year and which shall include: (1) the number of determinations made by the agency not to comply with requests for records made to suc…

Except as provided in § 10109 of this Chapter, nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to require disclosure of records that are any of the following: (a) Records pertaining to pending litigation to which the agency is a party, until the pending litigation has been finally adj…

Oversight Committee. Any record or information which may be nondiscloseable under § 10108 that is in the possession of an agency shall be discloseable to the Legislative Oversight Committee upon its issuance of a subpoena duces tecum requesting such record or information or subpo…

The exemptions of records as prescribed in this Chapter shall not apply to public officials who prior to the adoption of this act had legal access to the records. SOURCE: Added by P.L. 25-006:2 (May 12, 1999). NOTE: This section was originally codified from GC § 6990, entitled “P…

This Chapter does not allow limitations on access to a public record based upon the purpose for which the record is being requested, if the record is otherwise subject to disclosure. SOURCE: Added by P.L. 25-006:2 (May 12, 1999). NOTE: This section was originally codified from GC…

(a) Any person making a request in any agency for public records pursuant to § 10103 shall be deemed to have exhausted his administrative remedies with respect to such request if the agency fails to comply with the applicable time limit provisions of that Section. (b) Any person …

(a) If the Court finds that the public official’s decision to refuse disclosure is not justified under this Chapter, the Court shall order the public official to pay a fine of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00). The fine shall be a personal expense for the responsible official and …

The provisions of this Chapter shall not be deemed in any manner to affect the status of judicial records as it existed immediately prior to the effective date of this Section, nor to affect the rights of litigants, including parties to administrative proceedings, under the laws …

Every person has a right to inspect any public writing on record in Guam and every public officer having the custody thereof is bound to permit such inspection, and to give on demand and on payment of the legal fees therefor a certified copy of such writing or record. The common …

Except when a different amount is prescribed the following fees shall be paid in advance for certified copies of public records: (a) for making a certified copy, $.75 cents for the first 300 words or part thereof, and $.15 cents for each additional 100 words or part thereof. (b) …

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no department, agency or instrumentality of the government of Guam, including all autonomous agencies and instrumentalities, shall charge another branch, department or agency of the government of Guam, including the Guam Legislature…

Magnetic Media Format. Any information, that is stored on or will be stored on magnetic media, available under the Freedom of Information Act, as provided for in Article 1 of this Chapter, shall be made available to the general public on magnetic media. SOURCE: Added by P.L. 24-3…

Format. An agency may make information, covered by Article 1 of this Chapter that is not stored on magnetic media, available to the general public on magnetic media and charge a fee for such service. Such fees shall be based on the cost of such services, and subject to the provis…

For purposes of this Section, magnetic media shall be defined as three and one-half inch (3.5") high-density floppy diskettes and CD ROM disks. To fulfill the requirements of § 10301 of this Article, Agencies only need make information that consist of computer files that total mo…

Unless otherwise provided for herein, information shall be made available in the following formats: (a) Written Transcripts, Rules and Regulations, Legislation and Written Text Documents: Written transcripts, rules and regulations, legislation and written text documents shall be …

Magnetic Media. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no department, agency or instrumentality of the government of Guam, including all autonomous agencies and instrumentalities, shall charge another branch, department or agency of the government of Guam, including I Li…

Government. (a) Every department or agency of the Executive Branch of the government of Guam, inclusive of all autonomous agencies, the Department of Education, the Guam Visitors Bureau, the Guam Economic Development and Commerce Authority, the Guam Waterworks Authority and the G…

The following information must be posted, at a minimum, on each official website or homepage required pursuant to Section 10305 above. (a) Notice of all meetings, hearings and public events as required by public law and for such duration as required by public law and containing s…

There are no special requirements for the format or construction of official Home Pages. Each Branch of government shall make every possible effort to ensure that official Home Pages use text and graphics formats that can be easily loaded and read by most Web browsers. For comple…

The Guam Telephone Authority shall, within ninety (90) days of the enactment hereof, make its annual phone directory of published numbers available on the Internet and on CD ROM. To the extent that funds allow for, the Guam Telephone Authority shall make arrangements with compani…

Beginning with I Mina’Bente Kuattro Na Liheslaturan Guåhan, all bills passed by I Liheslaturan Guåhan shall be posted on I Liheslaturan Guåhan’s Official Home Page. Bills signed into law or vetoed by I Maga’lahen Guåhan shall include I Maga’lahen Guåhan’s message. In the event a …

Custody of the Department of Land Management. Within one (1) year of the enactment hereof, the Department of Land Management shall publish a complete set of the maps of Guam in their custody on CD ROM. Existing maps in magnetic media format shall be made available pursuant to the…

Detractions. No official Home Page required herein may be used to endorse or detract from any elected official, candidate for an elected office or the platform of any elected official or candidate for elected office. SOURCE: Added by P.L. 24-301:2 (Dec. 18, 1998).

Accounts with the Guam Power Authority. Within six (6) calendar months of the enactment hereof, the Guam Energy Office shall publish on its website a listing of all government of Guam meters registered with the Guam Power Authority, and the corresponding fiscal quarterly account …

Temporary Labor Certifications approved by I Maga’lahi (the Governor). Within six (6) calendar months of the enactment hereof, the Guam Department of Labor shall publish and update on a quarterly basis on its website a listing of all temporary labor certifications issued and atte…

Services Via the Internet. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all entities of the government of Guam, inclusive of autonomous agencies, shall provide for the acceptance of applications, filings and forms for services through their official website. If the nature of an ap…

Within six (6) months of the enactment hereof, the Guam Board of Medical Examiners shall publish, and update on a quarterly basis on its website, a listing of licenses issued pursuant to Article 2 (Physicians Practice Act) of Chapter 12, Title 10, Guam Code Annotated, including t…