If there's one thing government employees must understand, it's the concept of "public servant."

They are the public's employees, because the government belongs to the people. It's a simple concept, but it's too often forgotten.

That became apparent recently during an Indiana Senate Local Government Committee hearing on Senate Bill 232.

SB 232, introduced by state Sen. Beverly Gard, R-Greenfield, would allow a judge to impose fines of up to $1,000 against officials or government agencies that blatantly refuse to comply with requests for public records or ignore the rules on making meetings open to the public.

At the Jan. 21 hearing on SB 232, municipal and county officials said the meting notice requirement would put an undue financial or administrative burden on their peers. They also called it unfair to potentially hold an employee liable for not complying with the open access laws.

That lackadaisical attitude is perhaps the strongest argument for establishing enforcement options.

Indiana has strong laws on allowing the public access to their government. But without teeth, those laws are too often ignored.

While the state has a public access counselor to offer advice to the public, to government agencies and to the media, those opinions aren't binding.

Under current law, a judge can order an offending government agency to pay a plaintiff's legal fees if the judge rules the agency violated state public access laws, but that requires the plaintiff to have enough money to pay an attorney just in case.

State Sen. Frank Mrvan, D-Hammond, offered similar legislation last year. State Sen. Sue Landske, R-Cedar Lake, is sponsoring a bill this year. The bill deserves the full support of the Indiana General Assembly and Gov. Mitch Daniels.

It's the public's government, and the bureaucrats need to be held accountable for refusing to support this principal. We strongly support Senate Bill 232 to put some teeth in Indiana's open access laws.