The Sunshine Review recently completed a 10-point evaluation of Web access to county government information for all 3,140 counties across the United States.

One factoid: Among Minnesota’s 87 counties, only 23 make their budgets available via the Internet.

St. Louis County, which includes the city of Duluth, ranks highest in the state. All that’s lacking from the St. Louis County Web site, according to the study, is information about permits and zoning (a single criterion) and lobbying. The county is the only one in the state to offer information in all four of these often-overlooked areas: audits, contracts, public records and taxes.

Still, the northeastern Minnesota county (the state’s largest in area) is a surprising title-holder, given recent complaints about efforts to ban a watchdog group from videotaping public meetings.

Olmsted County, which includes the city of Rochester, scored a close second. Its county Web site’s gaps are in lobbying data and public records, with partial credit for providing information about public meetings.

By contrast, each of the Twin Cities’ metro-area counties met only four to six of Sunshine Review’s 10 criteria: Anoka (5), Carver (4), Dakota (4), Hennepin (6), Ramsey (6), Scott (5) and Washington (5).

Sunshine Review has set its sights next on completing evaluations for city government Web sites across the country. So far, 51 Minnesota cities’ Web sites have been examined.

The studies are done by wiki, meaning anyone with Web access can contribute.

Incidentally, a cursory Minnesota Independent evaluation of the mock Web site for the fictional city of Pawnee, Ind., using Sunshine Review’s transparency checklist, suggests a failing grade. The site was created as a subtle promotion for NBC’s new local-government satire, “Parks and Recreation,” which premieres Thursday.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press tips its hat to persistent citizens who read the fine print and demand to know the truth.

So here’s to the little old lady who insists on seeing the fine print in the bus contract the school district signs. Here’s to the grumpy old man who demands a clear answer when he asks the city council why it’s getting up to go behind closed doors. Here’s to the fed-up taxpayer who wants to see official e-mail to understand better why so-and-so got a tax break. Here’s to the cranky partisans who scour the campaign contributions of political candidates and who raise hell when the reports thereof are late. Here’s to the ornery bloggers who mine the Web for source documents and more.

Here’s also to the many public officials and employees who understand that public information belongs to the people, not to the government, and here’s to librarians, attorneys, reporters and civic groups who walk the beat for openness.

The St. Cloud Times devoted two editorials to the topic this week. The first editorial calls for openness at the state and local level while the second called for a federal shield law.

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Look no further than this board’s recent effort to push the St. Cloud City Council from its desire to conduct monthly study sessions with, well, less-than-optimal sunshine. Last summer, rather than use the technology taxpayers bought for them to broadcast such meetings, a majority of the council voted to not televise these sessions.

Several editorials, recording efforts by this board and an election in the fall finally forced a majority of the council to agree to let the sun shine in.

Unfortunately, such sunshine has yet to reach all corners of St. Cloud government. Based on minutes posted on its Web site and confirmed by executive director Bruce Thielman, the St. Cloud Housing & Redevelopment Authority’s board since at least 2006 has routinely held an untelevised special meeting immediately preceding its televised monthly meetings.

So what’s the thinking of HRA board members? Let all the sun shine in only after they’ve had a chance to discuss issues with the cameras off?

But such actions are nothing compared to what Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s administration wants to do regarding the contact information of people who volunteer to serve on public bodies that conduct the public’s business. The state wants to keep those addresses and contact
information private.

The Worthington Daily Globe cites a recent study showing that “three quarters of American adults view the federal government as secretive” and looks to newspapers to take the lead.

Of course, it should be noted that it’s almost natural to possess a distrust of government. From the Watergate scandal of the Richard Nixon years to the various controversies that encompassed Bill Clinton’s presidency – and now, the recent fall from grace of New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer – it’s easy to feel that we’re not getting told the whole story.

That’s where newspapers come in. It’s their job – whether it’s the Daily Globe or a small community weekly – to be a trusted, objective source of information. It’s their job to keep a measure of the pulse of their coverage areas – reporting the successes, the failures and, yes, the stories that some are sometimes too eager to hide.

The aforementioned survey, which included 1,012 adults, was commissioned by the American Society of Newspaper Editors for Sunshine Week, a national initiative that encourages discussions about the importance of freedom of information. We at the Globe aim to do our part to continuously spark this discussion, for the benefit of our readers and the
communities we serve.

The Back Pages is a recurring roundup of editorial opinions on issues that face Minnesota.