Transparency — a word that’s used more and more when it comes to all levels of government interacting with the public. More and more, those levels of government employ that word in an effort to show the public they are not hiding anything from public scrutiny.

When it comes to ensuring transparency, especially with government, access to meetings of government bodies and pubic records becomes paramount. State Sen. Bill Cook, a Republican who represents Senate District 1 in the North Carolina General Assembly is doing his part to ensure that transparency. Cook introduced Senate Bill 77 on Feb. 14. The bill would make it a Class 3 misdemeanor to deny access to public records for the purpose of inspection and examination or copying those records. That’s a good bill that deserves support.

In recent years, there have been some government officials who have denied access to public records. In North Carolina, there was a sheriff who told a reporter she could not have access to public records she requested. The sheriff told the reporter he did not care what the law said about access to public records: he would determine who got access to such records and if anyone got access to them. Other custodians of public records often ask the person seeking those records why he wants the records. Under North Carolina law, they cannot ask that question.

Public records belong to the public — your barber, your son’s teacher, the taxpayers. A sheriff does not control them. A government clerk does not control them.

On Monday, the Sunshine Center of the North Carolina Open Government Coalition at Elon University celebrated Sunshine Day with a conference on government transparency in North Carolina. The one-day conference is part of the broader Sunshine Week observance, which began Sunday and ends Saturday.

Senate Bill 77 should become law. Cook’s introduction of the bill provides North Carolina legislators an opportunity to strengthen the state’s public-records laws even stronger. Senate Bill 77 is all about your right to know what the government is doing or what it’s not doing. Senate Bill 77 is all about transparency.

In this day and time, that transparency is needed.