ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – After years of dealing with backlogs in public records requests, the city of Albuquerque is finally experiencing a higher clearance rate. However, the number of overall requests continues to rise.
The city receives thousands of requests each year, giving it a workload comparable to one of the largest police agencies in the country: the Los Angeles Police Department. Requests have increased from 4,000 to nearly 16,000 by 2025.
“So the volume of requests that the city receives and under our public records act is really unusual,” said City Clerk Ethan Watson.
For years, Albuquerque had a backlog of public records requests in the thousands. But for the first time since 2023, that backlog has dropped below 1,000 requests. Over the last fiscal year, the city reports that 65% of public records requests were closed within 20 days.
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“We have a robust triage process, and we now really work hard to separate smaller requests from larger requests, and that has shown a lot of success. And so not only is our backlog down, but we are also closing over 50% of our requests within 15 days,” says Watson.
In New Mexico, anyone can file a public records request to a public entity. Last year, the city received 14,000 public records requests; this year, that number has soared to nearly 16,000. The city clerk’s office reported that in July alone, they received over 2,000 requests. The city clerk mentioned that even with the increase in requests, the team still has to complete other incoming requests, leading to longer wait times of more than 30 days.
“I think this is one of the biggest questions that’s facing our Inspection of Public Records Act today is you know, the media account for less than five percent of our total requesters. And yet, we spend the majority of our time, you know, frankly, buried under other requests from commercial entities.” Watson said.
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The implementation of a triage system last year has helped to expedite their workload. The city is also exploring the use of AI to assist with tasks like redacting emails to improve document retrieval. Most requests come from commercial groups and attorneys, while media outlets like KRQE represent only 4% of the total requests. Although there are no limits on the number of requests from commercial and individual requesters, Watson believes it may be time to reevaluate the law.
“They are just all the state’s laws are a little different, and so I think it’s important to look at, you know, what is it about our law that encourages this volume?” said Watson.
The city has also noticed an increase in public records requests that are generated by AI, with the majority of requests being for records from the Albuquerque Police Department.
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