BOISE, Idaho — In a sharply worded ruling today, 4th District Judge Deborah Bail ruled in favor of the Idaho Press Club in its public records lawsuit against Ada County, finding that the county improperly withheld public records that Idaho reporters requested under the Idaho Public Records Act. "The Court finds that the evidence is overwhelming that public records were improperly and frivolously withheld," the judge wrote. "The Idaho Press Club is the prevailing party and is entitled to its attorney fees and costs. The Petition to Compel is granted. The documents must be supplied forthwith."
The judge wrote, "Ada County’s approach to handling the Idaho Public Records Act requests in this case was troubling. The Act favors timeliness, narrow exclusions and openness; Ada County’s approach emphasized delay, unsupportable interpretations of privilege and secrecy. Ada County not only did not follow the Idaho Public Records Act, it acted as though different Act had been enacted—a reverse image of Idaho law. No public agency is free to create its own Public Records Act. Vague, over-reaching denials for “Personnel” or “Privacy” without citing the Act’s specific personnel or privacy protections is not permissible. There is no “Deliberative Process” privilege in Idaho law. While the attorney-client privilege can be asserted for confidential communications between lawyer and the client for the purpose of legal advice, delegating the administrative/clerical function of gathering public records to a lawyer does not make everything the lawyer touches or copies other employees subject to the protection of the privilege. Ada County’s refusal to provide records was frivolous and it has frivolously pursued its positions in this case."
Full disclosure here: I'm the president of the Idaho Press Club, which is a non-profit trade association of working journalists in Idaho. Numerous Idaho news organizations supported our legal challenge in this case, including the Idaho Press.
You can read the judge's 31-page decision here.
Melissa Davlin, vice president and 1st Amendment Committee chair for the Idaho Press Club, said, "This is a great day for government transparency in the state of Idaho. The Idaho Press Club hopes other government entities pay attention to this ruling so we can avoid similar court battles in the future."
Idaho Press reporter Thomas Plank interviewed Ada County Commission Chair Kendra Kenyon this afternoon; she said she could not comment specifically on the lawsuit, but said she looked forward to reading the ruling. "The Board will look diligently at our internal process and procedure," Kenyon said, and added she and the commission were committed to "access and transparency." "Those are vital to the community and we look forward to this process," Kenyon said. She said no decision had been made on whether or not Ada County would appeal the ruling made by Judge Bail, but that commissioners would be looking at their options early next week after the county's lawyers had combed through the ruling.
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