Open Oakland

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

Open Oakland is a free, online and public search program for county records. These records include minutes, agendas and resolutions of the County Board of Commissioners from 1970 forward. In addition, documents such as local agreements and election canvasses are available. The program allows the user to search by keyword to research any subject. The need for this program was evident with the difficulties our corporation counsel was having in doing basic research of past actions of the Board of Commissioners. In preparation for lawsuits, memorandums and other necessary functions, employees would need to come to the elections division and search binders by hand. This made it nearly impossible to get an accurate full picture of past actions. The public also had very limited access to these records. Research work has been dramatically improved. The program has allowed county employees to get background they ordinarily wouldn’t have time to find.