ORS 192.340 Attorney General catalog of exemptions from disclosure

The Attorney General shall maintain and regularly update a catalog of exemptions created by Oregon statute from the disclosure requirements of ORS 192.311 to 192.478. The catalog must be as comprehensive as reasonably possible and must be freely available to the public in an electronic format that facilitates sorting and searching of the catalog.

The catalog required by subsection (1) of this section must include the following information for each exemption:

A citation to the Oregon statute or statutes creating the exemption from the disclosure requirements of ORS 192.311 to 192.478;

The relevant text of each statute creating the exemption;

If the exemption has been construed by a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court or Court of Appeals, a citation to that decision;

To the extent that the exemption is specific to a particular public body or particular types of public bodies, a description of the public body or bodies to which the exemption relates; and

Additional information as the Attorney General deems appropriate.

To help ensure that the catalog required by subsection (1) of this section is as comprehensive as possible:

The Legislative Counsel shall provide the Attorney General with an electronic copy of any Act passed by the Legislative Assembly that, in the judgment of the Legislative Counsel, creates an exemption from the disclosure requirements of ORS 192.311 to 192.478; and

When a district attorney issues an order pursuant to ORS 192.415, the district attorney shall send the Attorney General an electronic copy of that order.

The purpose of the catalog required by subsection (1) of this section is to assist public officials and members of the public in ascertaining what information is exempt from the public disclosure requirements of ORS 192.311 to 192.478. The catalog is not intended to provide legal advice to public bodies or to members of the public.

A public body may assert that an Oregon statute exempts a public record in the custody of the public body from disclosure even if that statute is not listed in the catalog or the catalog does not include that public body in the catalog’s description of the public bodies to which that exemption applies.