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CHAPTER 10
FREEDOM OF INF
ORMA
TION
Article 1. Sunshine Law
.
Article 2. Records.
Article 3. Infor
ma
tion Required on Magnetic Media and the Internet.
ARTICLE 1
SUNSHINE LAW
§ 10101. Short Title.
§ 10102. Definitions.
§ 10103. Right of Inspection of Publi c Documents.
§ 10104. Limitation on Right of Inspection .
§ 10105. Efficient Disclosure of Records.
§ 10106. Posting Guidelines.
§ 10107. Annual report.
§ 10108. Limitation on Right of Inspection.
§ 10108.1. Disclosure of Privileged Information to Legi slative
Oversight Committee.
§ 10109. Disclosure to Proper Officials.
§ 10110. Purpose of Request Irrelevant.
§ 10111. Court Proceedings.
§ 10112. Penalties for Nondisclosure.
§ 10113. Judicial Records.
NOTE:
The original Sunshine Act
was passed by P.
L. 18 -47. P
.L. 18 -47 also
repealed former §§ 6114, 6270 and 6271 of the Government Code. P
.L. 19 -5:139
repealed and reenacted the Sunshine Law
in the form found in Article 1. P
.L. 19 –
5:139, in repealing the whole of P
.L. 18 -47, also repealed the section repealing §§
6114, 6270 and 6271 of the Government Code. The Compiler has, therefore,
continued the former sections of the Government Code, once repealed but now
revived, as Article 2 of this Chapter
.
The Sunshine Law of 1987, enacted by P
.L. 19 -5:139, use d Government
Code section numbers already occupied by other code sections. Therefore, in the
19th Guam Legislature Session Laws, the Compiler has renumbered those sections
to GC §§ 6750 -6759, and those sections are again renumbered to fit within the
Guam C ode Annotated.
This Article was repealed and re -enacted by P
.L. 25 -06 and later laws of the
25th Guam Legislature.
§§ 6114 Government Code is now in 5 GCA, Chapter 20, numbered § 20110.

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§ 10101. Short Title.
This Chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the >Sunshine
Refor
m Act of 1999’.
§ 10102. Definitions.
As used in this Chapter:
(a) Agency
mea
ns any authority of the government and includes
a department, institution, board, bureau, commission, council,
committee of Guam government, branch, autonomo us
instrumentality
, public corporation funded by public taxes or funds,
or other public entity of the government of Guam, whether or not it
is within or subject to review by another agency
.
(b) Director
mea
ns the person directly responsible for
overseeing the daily operations of an agency
, or the person serving
in an acting capacity as director at the time of any request for copies
of public records.
(c) Person
includes any natural person, corporation,
partnership, limited liability company
, firm

or associa tion.
(d) Public records
includes any writing containing information
re
lating to the conduct of the public =s business prepared, owned,
used, or retained by any state or local agency in any format,

including an electronic format.
CROSS -REFERENCES:

Public Law 27 -18:2 (uncodified) states:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law
, the Guam Economic
Development and Commerce
Authority shall be subject to the Freedom
of Information Law and the Sunshine Information Act
of 1999, 5 GCA

Chapter 10, and the Open Go vernment Law
, 5 GCA

Chapter 8.
§ 10103. Right of Inspection of Public Documents.
(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 agency and every person has a right to inspect any
public record, except
as hereafter provided. Any segregable portion of a
re
cord shall be available for
inspection by any person requesting the
re
cord after deletion of the portions that are exempted by law
.

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(c) Except with respect to public records exempt from disclosure by
expr
ess provisions of the law
, each agency
, upon a request for a copy of
re
cords th at reasonably describes an identifiable record or records, shall
ma
ke the records promptly available to any person, upon payment of fees
covering direct costs of duplication, or a statutory fee, if applicable.
Up
on r
equ
est, an exact copy shall be provided, unless
impracticable to
do so.
(d) Each agency
, upon a request for a copy of public records shall,
within four (4) working days from receipt of the request, comply with the
request if the records requested are disclosable public records in the
possession of the a
gency
. If
the r
ecords being requested partially contain
information exempted from disclosure by this Chapter or by another law
,
the agency shall redact the exempt information only and release the non –
ex
empt information in the records, citing the ex emptions in law that
require the information to be redacted. If
the records in whole contain
information not
disclosable by this Chapter or another law
, and contain
no infor
ma
tion that can be released, the agency shall notify the person
requesting the reco rds within four (4) working days from receipt of the
request, and cite the exemptions in law that prohibit disclosure of the
re
cords.
(e
) In unusual circumstances, the time limit prescribed in this
Section ma
y be extended up to ten (10) days, including Sat urdays,
Sundays and legal holidays, by written notice by the director of the
agency or the director =s designee to the person making the request,
setting forth the reasons for the extension and the date on which a
deter
mination is expected to be dispatched.
As used in this Section,
unusual circumstances
mea
ns:
(1) the need to search for and collect the requested records
from field facilities or other establishments that are separate from
the office processing the request; or
(2) the need to search for, colle ct and appropriately examine
mor
e than ten (10) separate and distinct records which are
dema
nded in a single request, or records that in total, are contained
in five hundr
ed (500) or mor
e pages, or contain about two hundred
fifty thousand (250,000) words, whichever is more.
§ 10104. Limitation on Right of Inspection.

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(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 pe rson, real or legal,
for the commission of any crime; provided, however, that this
Section shall not
affect the public or sealed nature of any documents
filed with the courts in any action or proceeding;
(2) the personnel file of any employee of the govern ment
without his consent, except
that relevant material in said file shall b
e
open to inspection after a final decision has been rendered in any
tribunal which may have jurisdiction over the subject matter in the
file.All information regarding salary, and the na
me, and worksite
ma
il addr
ess of each employee shall be public;
(3) tax returns and tax records, except
for real property tax
re
cords and returns which shall be public; and
(4) police blotters ,
accident reports, daily activity logs and
similar info rm
ation not restricted by Subsection (a) of this Section
shall be available to the public.
SOURCE: R/R by P
.L. 25 -06.
Amended by P
.L. 25 -040:1.
NOTE:
P.
L. 25 -040:1 amended this section relative to “Right of Inspection” which
P.
L.25 -06 had enacted as Electronic Communications
(below) together with §
10108 , Limitation on Right of Inspection .
Ҥ 10104. Electronic Communications. (a) An agency shall treat an
electronic mail request for public records the same as it treats paper and
oral requests for record s. The same deadlines apply to electronic mail
requests as other requests, and to ensure that electronic requests are
complied with quickly
, the agency

shall check its electronic mail every
work day
.
(b) In making any record available to a person under th is Chapter,
an agency shall provide the record in any form or format requested by
the person if
the record is readily reproducible by the agency in that
form or format. Each agency shall make reasonable efforts to maintain
its records in forms or formats t hat are reproducible in electronic form,
through electronic mail or on computer disk.”
§ 10105. Efficient Disclosure of Records.
(a) T
o ensur
e expedient disclosure of records by an agency
, the
Director of an agency shall require all personnel in charge o f receiving
any incoming mail, electronic mail, faxed documents or other

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communications to immediately notify the Director or his designee upon
re
ceipt of a request for records under this Chapter
.
(b) Upon receipt of a request for records under this Chapte r, the
Director of an agency or his designee shall immediately assign the
request to be fulfilled or responded to by an employee of the agency
.
(c) Each agency shall organize paper and computer files so that
documents can be retrieved and copied quickly fo r e
xpedient disclosure
of recor
ds under this Chapter
.
§ 10106. Posting Guidelines.
(a) Every agency shall establish written guidelines for accessibility
of r
ecords and stating the procedures to be followed when making its
re
cords available in accordance with this Chapter
. The guidelines shall
include a mailing address, fax number and electronic mail address to
which a person can send requests for copies of public records. The
guidelines shall also include the records exempted from disclosure of
which the agency is a custodian, as prescribed in Subsection (b) of this
Section. A

copy of these guidelines shall be posted in a conspicuous
public place at the offices of each agency
, and a copy of the guidelines
shall be available upon request free of charge to a ny person r
equesting
the agency =s records. Each agency shall also make the guidelines and list
of disclosable and non -disclosable documents available by computer
telecommunications within one (1) year of the effective date of this
Chapter
.
(b) Ever
y public
officer in charge of an agency having custody of
re
cords shall, within sixty (60) days after the effective date of this Act,
compile a list containing categorized descriptions of all writing in the
custody of the agency which said agency considers non -pub lic and non –
disclosable as prescribed in § 10108 of this Chapter, and submit the list
to the Speaker of I Liheslaturan Guåhan
for approval by I Liheslaturan
Guåhan . The
list for each agency shall be referred by the Rules
Committee to the appropriate oversi ght committees, which shall hold a
public hearing on each list before the list is put on I Liheslaturan
Guåhan’
s
session agenda for approval. Such approved list shall be used
as a guide for determination of non -disclosable records by agency
employees and m ay

be

am
ended by I Liheslaturan Guåhan
at any time.
All documents not
included on this list shall be considered public
writings. If
no such list is promulgated by the agency within (60) days,

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all documents and records shall be public unless
non -public and non –
disclosable pursuant to § 10108. If a list is not
approved by I
Liheslaturan Guåhan
wit
hin ninety (90) days of submission thereof, it
shall be deemed approved on the expiration of the ninety (90) days.
§ 10107.
Annual Report.
(a) On or before Februar y 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 h agency under §
10108 of this Chapter and the reasons for each such determination;
(2) the number of requests for records pending before the
agency as of September 30 of the preceding year, and the median
number of da
ys that such requests had been pending
before the
agency as of that date;
(3) the number of requests for records received by the agency
and the number of requests which the agency processed;
(4) the median number of days taken by the agency to process
differ
ent types of requests; and
(5) the n um
be
r of full -time staff of the agency devoted to
processing requests for records under this Section, and the total
amount expended by the agency for processing such requests.
(b) Each agency shall make each such report available to the public,
including b y computer telecommunications, or if computer
telecommunications means have not been established by the agency
, by
ot
her electronic means.
(c) The Attorney General of Guam shall make each report which has
been ma
de available by electronic means available a t a single access
point. The Attorney General of Guam shall notify the Legislative
Secr
etary of I Liheslaturan Guåhan , no later than April 1 of the year in
which each such report is issued, that such reports are available by
electronic means.
(d) The Attor ney General of Guam shall develop reporting and
performance guidelines in connection with reports required by this

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Section by October 1, 1999, and may establish additional requirements
for such reports as the Attorney General determines may be useful.
§ 10 108. Limitation on Right of Inspection.
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
ag ency is a party
, until the pending litigation has been finally
adjudicated or otherwise settled.
(b) Records of complaints to, or investigations conducted by
, or
re
cords of intelligence information, or security procedures or
information, of an agency or it s personnel.
(c) Personnel, medical, or similar files, the disclosure of which
would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy
. All
information regarding salary
, and the name, age, and mailing
addr
ess of each employee and public official shall
be public record.
(d) Information required from any taxpayer in connection with
the collection of taxes that is received in confidence and the
disclosure of the information to other persons would result in unfair
competitive disadvantage to the person sup plying the information,
except
th
at total amounts of money owed to or owed by a person,
and penalties levied against and owed by a person, shall be public
information and not
ex
empt from disclosure.
(e
) Library circulation records kept for the purpose of
identifying the borrower of items available in libraries, and library
and museum materials made or acquired and presented solely for
re
fe
re
nce or exhibition purposes. The exemption in this Subsection
shall not
apply to the records of fines imposed on the bo rrowers.
(f) Applications filed with any agency responsible for the
regulation or supervision of the issuance of securities or of financial
institutions, including, but not limited to, banks, savings and loan
associations, credit unions and insurance compa nies. The exemption
in this Subsection shall not
apply to the records of loans or
securities issued by an agency
, the amount of money or credit issued
to a person, information about the purpose and reasons for loans or
securities issued by the agency
, or i dentifying information about the

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person receiving the money or credit, including name, date of birth,
occupation and place of residence.
(g) Test questions, scoring keys and other examination data
used to administer a licensing examination, examination for
employment, or academic examination. The exemption in this
Subsection shall not
apply to cumulative test scores on academic
tests administered by the Guam Public School System, but shall
apply to individual students =
test scores.
(h) The home address and telephone number of any person
whose occupation is subject to regulation or licensure by the
government of Guam, or of any public official or government
employee, unless such person gives expressed permission to
disclose such information. The exemption in
this Subsection shall
not apply to information provided by nominated board members,
directors and other officials up for confirmation by I Liheslaturan
Guåhan
[the Legislature].
(i) All
existing privileges or confidential records or other
information expr essly protected under the law shall not
be abrogated
by this Act.
(j) Records specifically pertaining to security procedures,
passwords, combinations, access codes, electronic or computer user
I.D.s, policies or procedures on security
.
(k) For the Guam Pub lic School System information which
personally identifies participants in the School Breakfast/Lunch
Program, or their parents, guardians or caretakers.
(l) For the University of Guam: (i) all applicant records
regarding admission, financial aid and/or sch olarships, except
that
the na
mes

and ma
jors/areas of concentration of Financial Aid
re
cipients funded directly or indirectly
, through repayments by prior
re
cipients, by a fund of the government of Guam, including the
University of Guam’
s Student Financial Assistance Program Fund
shall be public information and not
cover
ed as private writings; (ii)
closed archives of the RFT Micronesian Area Research Center, as
per agreement with donor; and
(iii) anonymity agreements
regarding financial donations and other c ontributions made to the

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University only to the extent needed to protect the identity of the
donor
.
(m
) For the Guam Police Department: (i) vice funds
disbursement records; (ii) disapproved firearm permit applications;
and
(iii) investigation techniques,
which if exposed, would threaten
the safety of law enforcement officials and/or threaten the integrity
of an investigation.
(n) For the Guam Police Department: investigatory records
compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that
the p roduction of such records would:
(1) interfere with enforcement proceedings;
(2) deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial
adjudication;
(3) constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy;
(4) disclose the identity of a confidenti al source and, in the
case of a record compiled in the course of a criminal
investigation, confidential information furnished only by the
confidential source;
(5) disclose investigative techniques and procedures; or
(6) endanger the life or physical safety
of law enforcement
personnel.
(o) for the Department of Corrections’

Internal Affairs Unit, the
radio logs and tapes.
(p) For the Supreme and Superior Courts of Guam: (i)
draft/working copies of bench notes, memoranda and opinions
generated by the law cl er
ks, research attorneys, judges and justices
of the courts; and
(ii) notes of the legal impressions of law clerks,
attorneys, judges and justices of cases before the courts, whether
pending or already resolved.
(q) Draft documents of an Agency
.

(r) For t he Guam Economic Development Authority:
(i)
delinquency reports of loans issued by GEDA; (ii) credit reports on
loan applications filed with GEDA.

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NOTE: Subsection (b) amended
by P
.L. 25 -94:04.
Subsection (i) added by P
.L. 25 -78:02.
Subsection (j) added b y P
.L. 25 -78:03.
Subsection (k) added by P
.L. 25 -79:02.
Subsection (l) added by P
.L. 25 -79:03.
Subsection (m) added by P
.L. 25 -97:03.
Subsection (n) added by P
.L. 25 -97:04.
Subsection (o) added by P
.L. 25 -80:03.
Subsection (p) added by P
.L. 25 -94:02
Subsec tion (r) added by P
.L. 25 -81:02.
Subsection (q) added by P
.L. 25 -82:03.
Subsection (h) amended by P
.L. 25 -184:2.
COMMENT : Reference to Department of Education changed to Guam Public
School System pursuant to P.L. 28 -045:10 (June 6, 2005).
§ 10108.1. Disclo sure of Privileged Information to Legislative
Oversight Committee.
Any r
ecord or infor
ma
tion 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 subpoena upon the
director
.
SOURCE: Added by P
.L. 25:97:05.
§ 10109. Disclosure to Proper Officials.
The exemptions of records as prescribed in this Chapter shall not
apply to public offi cials who prior to the adoption of this act had legal
access to the records.
§ 101
10. Purpose of Request Irrelevant.
This Chapter does not
allow limitations on access to a public record
based upon the purpose for which the record is being requested, if t he
re
cord is otherwise subject to disclosure.
§ 101
11
. Court Proceedings.
(a) Any
pe
rson 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 th e agency fails to
comply with the applicable time limit provisions of that Section.
(b) Any person may institute proceedings for injunctive or
declarative relief or writ of mandate in the Superior Court of Guam to

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enforce that person =s right to inspect or to receive a copy of any public
re
cord or class of public records under this Chapter
. The times for
re
sponsive pleadings and for hearings in these proceedings shall be set
by the judge of the Court with the object of securing a decision as to
these matters
at the earliest possible time.
(c) Whenever it is made to appear by verified petition to the
Superior Court of Guam that certain public records are being improperly
withheld from a member of the public, the Court shall order the officer or
person charged with withholding the records to promptly disclose the
public record or show cause why the person should not
do so. The Court
shall decide the case after examining the record in camera , papers filed
by the parties and any oral argument and additional eviden ce as the Court
ma
y allow
. The burden is on the agency to sustain its action.
All r
ecords
shall be presumed public and the burden of establishing that a document
or record is private shall be upon the agency or person claiming that the
document on record s hould not
be disclosed or inspected.
(d)
Except
as to cases the Court considers of greater importance,
proceedings before the Superior Court, as authorized by this Section, and
appeals therefrom, take precedence over all cases and shall be assigned
for hea ring and trial or for argument at the earliest practicable date and
expedited in every way
.
(e
) If the Court finds that the public official =s decision to refus
e
disclosure is not
justified under this Chapter, the Court shall order the
public official to ma ke the record public. If
the judge determines that the
public official was justified in refusing to make the record public, the
Court shall return the item to the public official without disclosing its
content with an order supporting the decision refusing
disclosure.
§ 101
12. Penalties for Nondisclosure.
(a) If the Court finds that the public official =s decision to refus
e
disclosure is not
justified under this Chapter, the Court shall order the
public official to pay a fine of One Thousand Dollars ($1,00 0.00). The
fine shall be a personal expense for the responsible official and in no way
shall the fine be paid by the agency or the government of Guam.
(b) There is created the >Government Ethics Fund =
to assist the
Guam Ethics Commission in ensuring ethica l conduct in the government
of Guam. This fund shall not
be commingled with the General fund and

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shall be kept in a separate bank account. Any
fines collected under
Subsection (a) of this Section shall be deposited in the Government
Ethics Fund, are approp riated to the Guam Ethics Commission for ethical
investigations, audits and analyses of financial disclosure forms. This
appropriation is continuous, contingent on the annual submission of a
detailed budget to I Liheslaturan Guåhan , not withstanding any ot her

provision of law
.
(c) Any officer or employee who acts arbitrarily or capriciously in
withholding a public record from a requesting person shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor
.
(d) The Court shall award court costs and reasonable attorney fees
to the plain tiff should the plaintiff prevail after initial filing of the
complaint pursuant to this Section. The costs and fees shall be paid by
the public agency of which the public official is a member or employee
and shall not
become a personal liability of the pu blic official. If the
Court finds that the plaintiff =s case is clearly frivolous, it shall award
court costs and reasonable attorney fees to the public agency
.
§ 101
13. Judicial Records.
The provisions of this Chapter shall not
be deemed in any ma
nner 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 of
discovery of Guam, nor to limit or impai r any rights of discovery in a
criminal case.
NOTE:
P.
L. 25 -76 (1
1/99) added the following uncodified language:
Section 2. Disapproval
of GEP
A P
roposed Guidelines. The GEP
A
July

12, 1999 proposed guidelines submitted pursuant to the
requirements of the Sun shine Reform Act of 1999 are hereby
disapproved , but shall not
affect the existing limitations already
contained within the Sunshine Reform Act of 1999, including within §
10108, and their applicability to said agencies.
Section 3.
Disapproval
of GEP
A P
rop osed Exemptions. The
GEP
A J
uly

12, 1999 list of proposed exemptions submitted pursuant to
the requirements of the Sunshine Reform Act of 1999 are hereby
disapproved , but shall not
affect the existing limitations already
contained within the Sunshine Reform
Act of 1999, including within §
10108, and their applicability to said agencies
P.
L. 25 -77 added the following uncodified provisions:

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Section 2. Disapproval
of GEP
A P
roposed Guidelines. The GEP
A
July

12, 1999 proposed guidelines submitted pursuant to the
requirements of the Sunshine Reform Act of 1999 are hereby
disapproved , but shall not
affect the existing limitations already
contained within the Sunshine Reform Act of 1999, including within §
10108, and their applicability to said agencies.
Section 3.
D isapproval
of GEP
A P
roposed Exemptions. The
GEP
A J
uly

12, 1999 list of proposed exemptions submitted pursuant to
the requirements of the Sunshine Reform Act of 1999 are hereby
disapproved , but shall not
affect the existing limitations already
contained wit hin the Sunshine Reform Act of 1999, including within §
10108, and their applicability to said agencies.
P.
L. 25 -78:4 added the following uncodified law:
Section 4. Disapproval
of Agency
Lists. The following agencies =
lists submitted pursuant to § 10106(b)
of Article 1, Chapter 10 of Title
5 of the Guam Code Annotated, as repealed and reenacted by Public
Law Number 25 -06, are hereby disapproved , but shall not
affect the
existing limitations already contained within the Sunshine Reform Act
of 1999, including
within § 10108, and their applicability to said
agencies:
(1) the A. B. W
on Pat Guam International Airport
Authority;
(2) the Guam Mass Transit Authority;
(3) the Guam T
elephone Authority;
(4) the Port Authority of Guam;
(5) the Department of Administrat ion;
(6) the Department of Revenue & T
axation;
(7) the Office of the Public Auditor;
(8) the Guam Housing Corporation;
(9) the Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority;
(10) the Government of Guam Retirement Fund;
(11) the Guam Finance Commission;
(12) Cus toms and Quarantine;
(13) the Civil Service Commission;
(14) the Governor =s Office;
(15) the Department of Land Management;
(16) the Department of Agriculture;
(17) the Chamorro Heritage Institute Planning Group (now
a Division of Dipatamento I Kahao Guina han Chamorro );
(18) the Chamorro Language Commission (now a Division
of Dipatamento I Kahao Guinahan Chamorro );
(19) the Guam Developmental Disabilities Council;
(20) the Department of Integrated Services for Individuals
with Disabilities;
(21) the Departm ent of Mental Health and Substance
Abuse;

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(22) the Department of Public Health and Social Services;
(23) the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority;
(24) the Guam Museum (now a Division of Dipatamento I
Kahao Guinahan Chamorro );
(25) the Guam Election Commission ;
(26) the Department of Military Affairs; and
(27) the Guam Council on Arts and Humanities Agency
.
P.
L. 25 -79:04 added the following uncodified law:
Section 4. Disapproval
of Agency Lists. The following agencies’

lists submitted pursuant to § 10106(b) of Article 1, Chapter 10 of Title
5 of the Guam Code Annotated, as repealed and reenacted by Public
Law Number 25 -06, are hereby disapproved , but shall not
affect the
existing limitations already contained within the Sunshine Reform Act
of 1999, including wit hin § 10108, and their applicability to said
agencies:
(1) the Department of Education;
(2) the University of Guam;
(3) the Guam Public Library;
(4) the Guam Educational T
elecommunications Corporation
("KGTF"); and
(5) the Guam Community College.
NOTE:
P.L. 25 -80:02 added the following uncodified law:
Section 2. Disapproval
of DOC Proposed Exemptions. The
Department of Corrections =
July 12, 1999 list of proposed exemptions
submitted pursuant to the requirements of the Sunshine Reform Act of
1999 is hereby disapproved , but shall not
affect the existing limitations
already

contained within the Sunshine Reform Act
of 1999, including
within § 10108, and their applicability to said agency
.
P.
L. 25 -81:3 added the following uncodified law:
Section 3. Disapproval of Agency Lists. The following agencies’

lists submitted pursuant to § 10106(b) of Article 1, Chapter 10 of Title
5 of the Guam Code Annotated, as repealed and reenacted by Public
Law Number 25 -06, are hereby disapproved , but shall not
affect the
limitatio ns already contained within the Sunshine Reform Act of 1999,
including within § 10108, and their applicability to said Agencies:
(1) the Department of Commerce;
(2) the Guam Economic Development Authority; and
(3) the Guam V
isitors Bureau
P.
L. 25 -82:2 adde d the following uncodified law:
Section 2. Disapproval
of Agency Lists. The following agencies
lists submitted pursuant to § 10106(b) of Article 1, Chapter 10 of Title
5 of the Guam Code Annotated, as repealed and reenacted by Public

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Law Number 25 -06, are hereby disapproved , but shall not
affect the
existing limitations already contained within the Sunshine Reform Act
of 1999, including within § 10108, and their applicability to said
agencies:
(1) the Guam Power Authority;
(2) the Department of Y
outh Affair s;
(3) the Department of Parks and Recreation;
(4) the Department of Public W
orks;
(5) the Guam Contractors Licensing Board;
(6) the Bureau of Budget and Management Research;
(7) the Guam Energy Office; and
(8) the Professional Engineers, Architects and La nd Surveyors
Board.
P.
L. 25 -94 added the following uncodified sections:
Section 3. Disapproval
of Agency
Lists. The following agencies =
lists submitted pursuant to § 10106(b) of Article 1, Chapter 10 of Title
5 of the Guam Code Annotated, as repealed and r eenacted by Public
Law Number 25 -06, are hereby disapproved , but shall not
affect the
existing limitations already contained within the Sunshine Reform Act
of 1999, including within § 10108, and their applicability to said
agencies:
1. the Agency for Human
Resources Development;
2. the Department of Law;
3. the Department of Labor;
4. the Supreme Court of Guam;
5. the Department of Y
outh Affairs;
6. the Public Defender Service Corporation;
7. the Superior Court of Guam; and
8. the Guam Fire Department.
P.
L.
25 -97:02 added the following uncodified section:
Section 2. Disapproval
of GPD Proposed Exemptions. The Guam
Police Department July 12, 1999 and September 3, 1999 lists of
proposed exemptions submitted pursuant to the requirements of the
Sunshine Reform A ct of 1999 are hereby disapproved , but shall not
affect the existing limitations already contained within the Sunshine
Reform Act of 1999, including within § 10108, and their applicability
to said agencies.
———-
ARTICLE 2
RECORDS

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16
§ 10201. Inspect ion of Public Records; Certified Copies.
§ 10202. Fees for Certified Copies of Public Records.
§ 10203. Charges for Copying Government Documents.
NOTE:
Sections 10201 and 10202 were added by P
.L. 12 -34 as § 6251 and 6252,
renumbered to § 6270 and § 6271, respectively
, by

the Editor of the 1974
Supplement to the Government Code.
Public Law 18 -47:2 repealed these sections because the Sunshine Act of 1986
contained its own provision for charging fees for copies. The Sunshine Act of 1987
contains no such provi sion and, therefore, when P
.L. 19 -5:139 repealed the entire
P.
L. 18 -47, it revived the former sections repealed by section 2 of P
.L. 18 -47. Thus,
there remains authority to charge for copies.
§ 10201. Inspection of Public Records; Certified Copies.
Every
pe
rson has a right to inspect any public writing on record in
Guam and every public officer having the custody thereof is bound to
per
mit such inspection, and to give on demand and on payment of the
legal fees therefor a certified copy of such writing or record.
§ 10202. Fees for Certified Copies of Public Records.
Except when a different amount is prescribed the following fees shall
be paid in advance for certified copies of public records:
(1) for m
ak
ing a certified copy
, $.75 cents for the first 300 w ords
or part thereof, and $.15 cents for each additional 100 words or part
thereof.
(2) if the record is in a foreign language, $1.00 for each 100 words
or part thereof.
(3) for comparing for certification of copy furnished by the
applicant, one -half the f ee for m
ak
ing a copy
.
§ 10203. Charges for Copying Government Documents.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law
, no department, agency
or instrumentality of the government of Guam
, including all autonomous
agencies and instrumentalities, shall ch arge another branch, departm
ent or
agency of the government of Guam, including the Guam Legislature and
members thereof, for copies of requested documents, so long as the
documents are requested in an official capacity
.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provis ions of law
, any department,
agency or instrumentality of the Executive Branch of the government of

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17
Guam
, including all autonomous agencies and instrumentalities, except for
the Department of Land Management and the Departm
ent of Revenue and
Ta
xation, m
ay
charge the media or the general public a copying fee for
documents not to exceed ten cents (10 4) for the first page of any requested
document, and two cents (2 4) each for any rem
aining pages. The
Departm
ent of Land Management and the Departm
ent of Revenue and
Ta
xation m
ay

set their charges for documents by rules and regulations
pursuant to the Administrative Adjudication Law
.
(c) Any
department, agency or instrumentality of the Executive Branch
of the government of Guam, including all autonomous agencies an d
instrumentalities, m
ay choose not to charge the media or the general public a
copying fee for requested documents; however, they shall not charge more
than indicated in Subsection (b) of this Section.
SOURCE:
GC § 6711 added by P
.L. 18 -40:13.
———-
ARTICLE 3
INFORMA
TION REQUIRED ON M AGNETIC M EDIA

AND THE INTERNET
§ 10301. Infor
ma
tion Required to be Made A
va
ilable on Magnetic
Media Format.
§ 10301.1. Infor
ma
tion Not Stored on Magnetic Media Format.
§ 10302. Magnetic Media Defined.
§ 10303. Formats for Magnetic Media.
§ 10304. Fees and Timeframes for Information A
vailable on Magnetic
Media.
§ 10305. HomePage for Each Department or Agency of Government.
§ 10306. Infor
ma
tion Required on Official Home Pages.
§ 10307. Formats for Home Pages.
§ 10308. Spe cial Requirements for Telephone Directory
.
§ 10309. Special Requirements for Recently Enacted Legislation.
§ 10310. Special Requirements for Property Maps in the Custody of
the Department of Land Management.
§ 10311. Prohibition Against Partisan Endorseme nts or Detractions.
NOTE:
This article was added by P
.L. 24 -301:2
§ 10301. Information Required to be Made
Av
ailable on Magnetic
Media Format.

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Any information, that is stored on or will be stored on magnetic
media, available under the Freedom of Informat ion Act, as provided for
in Article 1 of this Chapter, shall be made available to the general public
on magnetic media.
§ 10301.1. Information Not Stored on Magnetic Media Format.
An a
gency ma
y ma
ke infor
ma
tion, covered by Article 1 of this Chapter
that is not
stored on magnetic media, available to the general public on
ma
gnetic media and charge a fee for such service. Such fees shall be
based on the cost of such services, and subject to the provisions of the
Administrative Adjudication Law
.
§ 10302. Magn etic Media Defined.
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 informatio n that consist of computer files that
total mor
e t
han six (6) megabytes of information available on CD ROM.
All others less than six (6) megabytes shall be available on floppy
diskettes.
§ 10303. Formats for Magnetic Media.
Unless other
wise provided for her
ein, infor
ma
tion shall be made
available in the following formats:
(a) W
ritten Transcripts, Rules and Regulations, Legislation and
Wr
itten Text Documents: W
ritten transcripts, rules and regulations,
legislation and written text documents shall be made a vailable in the
following formats: ASCII, text and any other word processing
for
ma
t commonly and widely used on Microsoft and Macintosh
Operating Systems.
(b) Financial Information: Lotus 123, Microsoft Excel and
Corel Quattro Pro for Microsoft and Macinto sh

operating systems.
(c) Other Information: The individual agencies shall, under the
provisions of the Administrative Adjudication Law
, determine most
appropriate format and make available such information on
ma
gnetic media.
Agencies may
, through appropri ate rules and regulations pursuant to
the Administrative Adjudication Law
, m
ake information available

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19
through other formats and charge a fee for such services. If a special
for
ma
t is, or becomes available for personal computers or Macintosh
Computers for i ndividuals with disabilities, agencies shall make such
information available in that format at no additional cost. The
deter
mination of which formats are commonly and widely used as
required herein shall be determined from input from the general public at
a public hearing held at least once per calendar year by each Branch of
the gover
nment of Guam.
§ 10304. Fees and Timeframes for Information
Av
ailable o
n
Magnetic Media.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law
, no department, agency
or instrumenta lity of the government of Guam
, including all autonomous
agencies and instrumentalities, shall charge another branch, departm
ent or
agency of the government of Guam, including I Liheslaturan Guåhan and
members thereof, for copies of requested documents, so
long as the
documents are requested in an official capacity
.
Unless otherwise provided herein, no department, agency or
instrumentality of all Branches of the government of Guam
, including all
autonomous agencies and instrumentalities shall charge fees in
excess of
Tw
o Dollars ($2.00) per floppy diskette, and Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) per
CD ROM; should the cost of providing such services increase, a department
or agency m
ay

set their fees at a higher rate, by rules and regulations
pursuant to the Administr ative Adjudication
Law
, only to cover the
additional costs. No fee shall be charged to any person who obtains public
inform
ation from the Internet.
Requests for such inform
ation on m
agnetic media shall be m
ad
e i
n
writing to the applicable agency
. Such magn etic media shall be provided to
the person requesting such inform
ation within five (5) working days,
excluding weekends and holidays, of the request. Payment for such services
shall be made at the time of the request. Agencies
ma
y by rules and
regulations pursuant to the Administrative Adjudication Law
, develop
appropriate timeframes for providing inform
ation in other form
ats not
expressly mentioned in § 10303 of this Article.
§ 10305. Hom
ePage for Each Department or Agency of Government.
(a) Every departm ent or agency of the Executive Branch of the
government of Guam, inclusive of all autonomous agencies, the Guam
Public School System, the Guam Visitors Bureau, the Guam Economic
Development and Commerce Authority, the Guam Waterworks

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Authority and the Guam
Power Authority, shall
develop and post on the
Internet a homepage or
website. Each homepage or website shall
be
designated as the official website or
homepa
ge for such department,
agency, autonomous agency or
public corporation and no information
posted
the
re
on shall
be restricted by user status, passwords, or
the
assessment of dues, membership fees or registration fees. This Section,
and §10306 of this Chapter shall
apply to I Liheslaturan Guåhan
as a
single agency and the Judiciary of Guam as a single
agency.
(b) All finalized reports, studies, and plans initiated, contracted for
or
conducted by any department or
agency, except criminal investigative
and security -related reports, studies, and plans, shall be

posted on the
agency Homepage. By January 1, 2008, copies of all such reports,
studies, and plans held in the records of all departments and agencies
shall
be posted on the agency Homepage.
SOURCE : Repealed and reenacted by P.L. 28 -057:2 (June 30, 2005) . Amended by
P.L. 29 -019:VI:88 (Sept. 29, 200 7).
§ 10306. Information Required.
The following information must be posted, at a minimum, on each
official website or homepage required pursuant to Section 10305 above.
1. Notice of all meetings, hearings and public events as
required by public law and f or such duration as required by public
law and containing such information as is required by public law.
2. The official name of the department, agency, autonomous
agency or public corporation in both English and Chamorro, the e –
ma
il address, public phone numbers, mailing address and physical
location of the department, agency, autonomous agency or public
corporation.
3. The na
mes and titles of the Director, Deputy Director or
official in charge of the department, agency, autonomous agency or
public corpora tion, as appropriate, as well as the names and titles of
the administrators of each and all offices, programs, services, units
or divisions under its purview, and the names of all board members
of ever
y board or commission associated with or appurtenant
ther
eto, and an organizational chart demonstrating the relationships
between all, as relevant.
4. A list of all fees charged for any services.

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5. All rules and regulations in force as promulgated by the
department, agency, autonomous agency or public corpora tion, or

links thereto, as well as all proposed rules and regulations, or
amendments thereto, as are progressing through the administrative
adjudication process as detailed in the Administrative Adjudication
Act.
6. The budget for the department, agency, a utonomous agency
or public corporation as is in force and approved by I Liheslaturan
Guåhan
or the gover
ning board as appropriate, as well as the
proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and in such form as is
submitted to or approved by I Liheslatura n Guåhan
or the
governing board as appropriate, and all expenditures of the
department, agency, autonomous agency or public corporation, such
entries to be updated on a quarterly basis.
7. The awardee, amount, duration and a general description of
all cont racts of any nature as entered into by the department,
agency, autonomous agency or public corporation, such entries to be
updated on a quarterly basis.
8. The a
mount of and a general description of all grants
re
ceived by the department, agency, autonomous
agency or public
corporation.
9. The hours of operation of the department, agency,
autonomous agency or public corporation, and all programs, units or
services under its purview.
10. A general description of the areas of responsibility of the
department, agency, autonomous agency or public corporation, and
all offices, programs, services, units or divisions under its purview,
as well as any public reports, studies and publications as the public
might expect access to under Guam law, or links thereto, and f or
ms,

notices or circulars required to be used by the public while
interacting with the department, agency, autonomous agency or
public corporation, and all offices, programs, services, units or
divisions under its purview.
11. The r
esults of audits, or li nks thereto, of the department,
agency, autonomous agency or public corporation, or any
component or service of same.

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12. In the case of a department, agency, autonomous agency or
public corporation that generates its own income through fees for
services o r other fees, an annual statement detailing collection and
income der
ived fr
om such fees.
Nothing in this Section shall be construed as limiting the
information that a department, agency, autonomous agency or public
corporation may provide to the general p ublic via a homepage or
website.
SOURCE : Repealed and reenacted by P
.L. 28 -057:3 (June 30, 2005).
§ 10307. Formats for Home Pages.
Ther
e are no special requirements for the format or construction of
official Home Pages. Each Branch of government shall m ake every
possible effort to ensure that official Home Pages use text and graphics
for
ma
ts that can be easily loaded and read by most W
eb browsers. For
complex documents intended for download by the general public, such
documents shall be available in, but
not limited to, Portable Document
Format ( APDF @).
§ 10308. Special Requirements for T
elephone Directory
.
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. T
o the extent that funds allow
for, the Guam Telephone Authority shall make arrangements with
companies that publish national directories on the Internet for inclusion
of published Guam telephone numbers on their internet dir ector
y
services. CD ROM versions of the directory shall be published quarterly
and ma
de a
vailable in all database, spreadsheet and word processing
for
ma
ts widely and commonly used on Microsoft and Macintosh
operating systems. Unlisted numbers and informati on on subscribers not
included in the printed version of the directory shall not
be included on
the Internet or CD ROM versions. The version of the telephone directory
published on the Internet shall be updated not
less than once every
calendar quarter
.
§ 10309. Special Requirements for Legislation.
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

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23
Maga’la hen Guåhan
shall include I Maga’lahen Guåhan =s
message. In
the event a Bill becomes law either through approval of I Maga’lahen
Guåhan , or override by I Liheslaturan Guåhan , the date and public law
number shall also be included. Information required to be included with
each bill posted on I Liheslaturan Guåhan =s
Official Home Page shall
include the sponsors of the legislation and, if applicable, the score
through and underline notations that reflect changes that will be made to
ex
isting law by enactment of the

bill. The voting record shall be included
with each bill passed or overridden by I Liheslaturan Guåhan .
Beginning with I Mina =Bente Sinko Na Liheslaturan Guåhan , all
bills introduced by members of I Liheslaturan Guåhan
shall be posted on
I Liheslaturan
Guåhan =s
official Home Page. New bills shall be posted
within five (5) working days of the bill =s introduction. The address of the
official Home Page, where all bills that are introduced are posted, shall
be included in all notices of public hearings.
§ 1 0310. Special Requirements for Property Maps in the Custody of
th
e Department of Land Management.
Wit
hin 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 for
ma
t
shall be ma
de available pursuant to the provisions of this Article
notwithstanding this one (1) year period.
§ 1031
1. Prohibition Against Partisan Endorsements or Detractions.
No official Home Page required herein m ay

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.
———-