Adams County commissioners introduce ordinance to curb commercial resale of public records

Clayton, the county’s legal representative, introduced ordinance 2026-2 on Tuesday, proposing limits on the commercial resale of public records obtained from the county’s electronic data storage systems. “I’m proposing ordinance number 20 26 2, which is short titled an ordinance of Adams County, Indiana to regulate the commercial use of public records obtained from electronic data storage systems,” Clayton said during the meeting.

The ordinance would not block APRA requests but would create administrative enforcement to deter commercial usage, Clayton said, including inquiries to requesters and the option to bar further requests from entities found to be using records for commercial resale. Clayton cited Indiana Code 5-14-3-3(e) as authority for a local political subdivision to regulate such commercial use.

Commissioners agreed to introduce the ordinance by short title only and scheduled formal consideration for the next meeting. Commissioner 3 moved to introduce the ordinance and the board voted to accept that introduction for later adoption; no public hearing was required for introduction, Clayton said, because the measure does not impose penalties directly on residents.

Clayton framed the change as a response to requests the county has received that he said appear intended for competitive commercial use: "It asks for, you know, certain RFPs for certain projects, etcetera," he said, noting the county can often identify commercial pattern requests. The ordinance would ask county department heads to flag suspect requests and route inquiries through the county attorney’s office.

Next steps: the ordinance will be posted for formal adoption next week, and county staff will follow the specified administrative processes to notify requesters if the ordinance is adopted.