Title 44. Public Records and Recorders

Chapter 1. Public Records

Part I. Scope

44:1        General definitions

A. (1) As used in this Chapter, the phrase “public body” means any branch, department, office, agency, board, commission, district, governing authority, political subdivision, or any committee, subcommittee, advisory board, or task force thereof, any other instrumentality of state, parish, or municipal government, including a public or quasi-public nonprofit corporation designated as an entity to perform a governmental or proprietary function, or an affiliate of a housing authority.

(2)(a) All books, records, writings, accounts, letters and letter books, maps, drawings, photographs, cards, tapes, recordings, memoranda, and papers, and all copies, duplicates, photographs, including microfilm, or other reproductions thereof, or any other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, including information contained in electronic data processing equipment, having been used, being in use, or prepared, possessed, or retained for use in the conduct, transaction, or performance of any business, transaction, work, duty, or function which was conducted, transacted, or performed by or under the authority of the constitution or laws of this state, or by or under the authority of any ordinance, regulation, mandate, or order of any public body or concerning the receipt or payment of any money received or paid by or under the authority of the constitution or the laws of this state, are “public records”, except as otherwise provided in this Chapter or the Constitution of Louisiana. 

(b) Notwithstanding Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph, any documentary material of a security feature of a public body’s electronic data processing system, information technology system, telecommunications network, or electronic security system, including hardware or software security, password, or security procedure, process, configuration, software, and code is not a “public record”. 

(c) Notwithstanding Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph, any blueprint or floor plan of the interior of a public school building or facility is not a “public record”. 

(3) As used in this Chapter, the word “custodian” means the public official or head of any public body having custody or control of a public record, or a representative specifically authorized by him to respond to requests to inspect any such public records. 

B. (1) Electrical well surveys produced from wells drilled in search of oil and gas located in established units and which are filed with the assistant secretary of the office of conservation shall be placed in the open files of the office of conservation. Any party or firm shall have the right to examine or reproduce, or both, at their own expense, copies of said survey, by photography or other means not injurious to said records. All other electric logs and other electronic surveys, other than seismic data, produced from wells drilled in search of oil and gas which are filed with the assistant secretary of the office of conservation shall remain confidential upon the request of the owner so filing for periods as follows:

(2) For wells shallower than fifteen thousand feet a period of one year, plus one additional year when evidence is submitted to the assistant secretary of the office of conservation that the owner of the log has a leasehold interest in the general area in which the well was drilled and the log produced; for wells fifteen thousand feet deep or deeper, a period of two years, plus two additional years when evidence is submitted to the assistant secretary of the office of conservation that the owner of the log has such an interest in the general area in which the well was drilled and the log produced; and for wells drilled in the offshore area, subsequent to July 1, 1977, regardless of depth, a period of two years from the filing of the log with the office of conservation, plus two additional years where evidence is submitted to the assistant secretary of the office of conservation that the owner of the log has such an interest in the general area in which the well was drilled and the log produced and has immediate plans to develop the said general area, unless a shorter period of confidentiality is specifically provided in the existing lease. 

(3) At the expiration of time in which any log or electronic surveys, other than seismic data, shall be held as confidential by the assistant secretary of the office of conservation as provided for above, said log or logs shall be placed in the open files of the office of conservation and any party or firm shall have the right to examine or reproduce, or both, at their own expense, copies of said log or electronic survey, other than seismic data, by photography or other means not injurious to said records. 

Amended by Acts 1973, No. 135, § 1; Acts 1973, Ex.Sess., No. 4, § 1; Acts 1978, No. 686, § 1; Acts 1979, No. 691, § 1; Acts 1980, No. 248, § 1; Acts 2001, No. 707, § 1, eff. June 25, 2001; Acts 2001, No. 882, § 1; Acts 2011, No. 79, § 2; Acts 2020, No. 211, § 2, eff. June 11, 2020.