Alabama Appellate Watch

In Allen v. Barksdale, [Ms. 1080242] (Ala. Sept. 18, 2009), the Alabama Supreme Court held that certain prison records, including incident reports, are subject to the Open Records Act and had to be disclosed to plaintiffs.  The Department of Corrections argued that the records were part of the inmate's personal files and not subject to the Act.  In an interesting opinion, the Court ultimately held that the records had to be disclosed, stating "[c]itizens are entitled to information regarding the affairs of their government."  Slip Op. p. 23.