Sec. 4. (a) Except as provided in this section or by another law, contract and purchasing records are public records subject to public inspection under IC 5-14-3.

     (b) A governmental body may establish policies or adopt rules for the protection of documents submitted to the governmental body in response to a solicitation.

     (c) Policies or rules may provide procedures for the following:

(1) Protection of offers before opening to prevent disclosure of contents.

(2) Afford unobstructed evaluation of offers and award of contracts by the purchasing agent after opening.

(3) Protection of offers from tampering before and after opening.

As added by P.L.49-1997, SEC.1.