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Sunday, February 26, 2006

Ind. Law - Terre Haute Tribune-Star editorial: "A heroic effort for public access"

"A heroic effort for public access" is the headline to this story today in the Terre Haute Tribune-Star, about the Kokomo student's battle with the city's mayor over an e-mail list. (For background, start with this Feb. 22nd ILB entry.) Some quotes from the editorial:

Every once in a while, a hero emerges in the fight to keep government records open to the public.

Such was the case in Kokomo recently when a savvy 16-year-old had the audacity to make a public records request of his community’s mayor. * * *

So Nees filed suit under the state’s access to public records law. Again, he won the argument. A Howard County judge ruled that the e-mail list is a public record and ordered the city to release it and to pay the teen’s attorney fees and court costs.

Mayor McKillip is contemplating an appeal. His resistance is based on a contention that those who sign up for his e-mail newsletter should not have to worry about the addresses being accessible to the public and potentially used for other purposes. He also denies using the list to distribute campaign materials.

Unfortunately, there is also a move afoot in the Indiana General Assembly this year to exempt e-mail lists compiled by public officials from the public records law. Such an exemption is a bad idea and would represent a serious erosion in the public’s ability to scrutinize its public officials. * * *

Once an e-mail list is compiled, *** it should remain accessible to public scrutiny. The potential for inappropriate use of the lists by public officials themselves is too great for them to be sealed from public view.

We hope Ryan Nees gets these public records soon, and we urge lawmakers to resist the effort to further restrict access laws as they pertain to e-mail lists.

The bill, SB 205, is eligible for final passage in the House this week. If it passes, it will go directly to the Governor, because the House has made no changes.

Note: Apparently this Senate bill eluded Senator Garton's "long-standing rule", as reported in stories about his killing the wine shipping bill and earlier, one of the canned deer hunting bills, because of litigation pending. At the time SB 205 was in the Senate, litigation was pending. And it technically still is pending -- the Kokomo mayor may file an appeal.

One might assume that the mayor would have little reason to appeal if the legislation passes. But the fact is that, under the judge's ruling, he/Kokomo is responsible for all the legal fees in the case they lost. Access the opinion here.

[To access all entries on this issue, type "Kokomo" in the seach box.]

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 26, 2006 11:53 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions | Indiana Government | Indiana Law