Are machine-readable intermediate files public records?

• A. Yes, they are public records.
• B. No; they are not public records.
• C. They are public records only if created by a public agency.
• D. They are public records only after destruction.

Answer: (B)

Public records are the materials a public agency creates or receives in the course of its official duties that are intended to be available to the public, unless a legal exemption applies. Machine-readable intermediate files are typically internal tools used during analysis and decision-making, not the final official record. They exist to process information and support conclusions, but they aren’t the official document that would be released as the record of a decision. Because of that, they are generally not public records on their own. If a final report or decision includes those data, the final document may be public, but the intermediate, internal files themselves usually remain non-public.