After getting some grief about her proposal to house a public records advocate in the Department of Administrative Services, the Governor’s Office requested an amendment — simply put, an alternative for lawmakers to consider — that would move the advocate to the Secretary of State’s Office.

It may seem a yawn-worthy bureaucratic shuffling for a post that doesn’t yet exist, but Gov. Kate Brown was publicly accused of partisanship because previous proposals placed the advocate in the offices of Secretary of State.

Those earlier proposals were floated before Dennis Richardson, a Republican from Central Point and a former gubernatorial candidate, narrowly won the title in the Nov. 8 election.

Republican Party Chairman Bill Currier took that to mean Brown, a Democrat, didn’t want the advocate under an independently elected Republican’s control, and issued a statement criticizing the governor for “naked partisanship” Dec. 19.

The governor’s stance on where to locate the advocate hasn’t changed — she’s still on the DAS team, according to reporting by The Oregonian last week — but her advisers sent a memo to legislative counsel Dec. 22 asking them to draft amendments to reflect an option locating the advocate in the offices of the Secretary of State.

In that memo, her staff also requested several other amendments to the proposed bill. These include additions to a proposed public records council, which would evaluate state public records policy, to include two members of the Oregon Legislature.

A spokesman for the governor said the amendments were requested as a result of “ongoing discussions” about the role — including where the advocate should work and whom he or she should report to.

Oregon Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins had voiced concerns about the proposal in early December, saying that there was some overlap between the duties of the advocate as proposed by the governor and the duties of the State Archivist, who is responsible for records management and retention.