You have a right to know what your government's up to, what it knows, when it knows it. Think of it like a poker game where the government has to play with all of its cards showing.

To make sure you know what it knows, Maine has a Freedom of Access Law, guaranteeing access to the "public records" and "public proceedings" of state and local government bodies and agencies.

This law is commonly violated. Most citizens do not know their rights, and many government employees and elected officials are not up to speed about the law's requirements. I prefer to think they're ignorant, rather than deliberately withholding information.

We all need to be educated and the law needs to be strengthened. Legislation sponsored by Rep. Deborah Simpson, D-Auburn, is now in play to do this. One important provision would establish an ombudsman in the Attorney General's office to help citizens access public records. This was a recommendation of the state's Right to Know Advisory Committee. Simpson's bill requires the ombudsman "to provide information and educational materials and programs to the public, as well as to public agencies and officials."

This is badly needed. As a member of the original Board of Directors of the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition, I have some familiarity with this important issue. And as the executive director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, I have often been discouraged when seeking documents that the law said were ours to obtain.

Consider this recent example. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has been working on a new fisheries policy and I sought a copy of the draft for months, finally filing a Freedom of Information Act request on Feb. 8.

I asked for "the most recent and any previous drafts of the Section H Fisheries Policy, all written comments, proposals, editing suggestions, and other information -- including e-mails and notes of telephone conversations -- pertaining to this policy, from staff or others."

Later that month, I got a call saying I could pick up the information and pay the bill of $65. Two things surprised me. First, I only received a copy of the draft policy and comments on that policy from staff biologists. I did not receive previous drafts or any of the other information requested.

Second, Fisheries Division Director John Boland refused to send the draft to me electronically via e-mail. I wanted it in that format in order to easily forward it to the members of SAM's Fishing Initiative Committee and others.

Boland refused that request, writing on March 6, "We've satisfied your FOI request by providing hard copies of our draft fisheries policies. Our current Dept policy is to provide only hard copies in response to FOI requests. We're not legally required to provide electronic copies. This is how IFW handles all FOI's requests."

That is a violation of the FOA law. So I took my complaint to Mal Leary, president of the Freedom of Information Coalition, and he took it to the Attorney General's office.

I'm not sure what happened from there, but shortly afterwards, the draft policy was e-mailed to me. I never did get the other material requested, but the policy itself has been very useful in allowing SAM to move forward on this issue.

I'm not sure why a division director of a state department would think he didn't have to supply documents electronically, but that points up one of many problems with this process.

A lot of public officials don't understand the law and commonly violate it.

I have had the commissioner of a state agency tell me I had to wait to receive a document because he had not reviewed it yet. Some years ago, a law enforcement officer who had a policy document right in front of him on the table told me I was not entitled to it.

Neither response to my request for a document was lawful. But I'm used to it and I know how to get the documents that are refused to me.

The typical citizen is not so fortunate or as persistent in getting the information he or she is entitled to receive.

If our government is to work in the open and honest fashion we desire, each of us must be vigilant, aware of our rights, and involved in the process. Knowledge is power -- which is why some officials hide their cards.

It's time for all of them to show their cards, every time a hand is dealt. Simpson's bill will help make that happen.

George Smith is executive director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine. He lives in Mount Vernon and can be reached at george@samcef.org.