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Some governments provide easy access to public records. Others appear to look for ways to keep the public in the dark. Lately I've come across both.

Because of allegations that city employees were inappropriately involved in council races in Albuquerque, I recently requested months of e-mails, cell phone records and time sheets for four city officials.

City Hall responded in a timely manner, is offering to mail the records to me in Las Cruces and is charging a reasonable $34.50 for copies and postage - 10 cents per page and $1 per compact disc, far less than the $1-per-page allowed by state law.

New Mexico State University, meanwhile, is placing hurdles in front of public records.

The university stepped into controversy in May, by using, for the first time, private contributions to boost the compensation of its president and men's basketball coach. It funnels donations through a non-profit foundation that keeps them secret - a practice that has been deemed illegal in some states. Many - including me - believe letting secret donors help pay public employees creates the potential for impropriety.

The university denied my request for information about the donors in May but did provide, without charge and in response to a request sent via e-mail, a copy of its agreement with the foundation.

In July, NMSU's Board of Regents approved a new agreement with the foundation. Soon thereafter, I requested a copy but was told my request wasn't valid because it was sent via e-mail. Regardless, NMSU said, the document wasn't public, because it hadn't been signed by all parties.

The latter argument is ridiculous. Government records become public long before they're formally approved or signed. And NMSU had not only treated e-mail requests as valid in the past, but also responded via e-mail to two subsequent, hand-delivered records requests.

I asked the state attorney general whether the university's actions violated public-records laws. His office is investigating. The university eventually provided the new agreement - and charged $1 per page - but still asserts that e-mail requests aren't valid. On a related request, the university wants to charge more - $40 for 40 pages - than Albuquerque is charging for hundreds of pages.

I also requested the e-mails of the foundation's director, a university vice president who uses a government account. Even the White House understands that government e-mails are generally public, so it had the Republican National Committee set up a separate system for secret communications.

But on Friday, NMSU said the e-mails may not be public, because the foundation agreement requires confidentiality. It forwarded my request to the foundation, which said Monday the e-mails aren't public, but if I request something specific, it may be voluntarily released. If I pursue this, NMSU says I'll be charged for "locating, reviewing and producing" the e-mails, in addition to copying costs allowed by public records law.

"Understand that NMSU takes its obligations under the Inspection of Public Records Act very seriously," university attorney Bruce Kite informed me - via e-mail. "NMSU cannot ignore other important goals or public policies, and it cannot ignore contractual obligations."

Saying you take public records law seriously doesn't make it true. Goals, policies and contracts don't trump state law.

Albuquerque's helpful attitude makes it appear there's nothing to hide. The university's disingenuous and standoffish positions create the oppose appearance.

Haussamen is an independent, online political journalist based in Las Cruces. His work can be found at nmpolitics.net.