This study presents core values at public authorities in Sweden and discusses them in relation to the legal foundation for the public administration. A corpus-based approach is allpied in order to overview the texts where the core values are presented, and to promote an understanding of how ambiguous core value words might be understood, paying particular attention to the high frequent core value openness. Results show that public authorities tend to emphasize the principle of efficiency and service in their assignment, and often choose core values related to that principle, such as helpful, reliable or goal oriented. The principle free formation of speech, on the other hand, a privilege confirmed in the Swedish constitution, is not present among the chosen core value words. The word openness primarily refers to a personal quality or a workplace atmosphere and is both promoted and restricted in the texts. Only in a few instances do openness refer to flow of information, and in those instances, it is restricted. The constitutional right for a public servant to voice his or her opinion freely is thus not emphasized in this type of policy texts.