CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - In a split decision Wednesday, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled public agencies may charge people seeking to inspect electronic records for the cost of computer programming and other requirements to compile the information.
By a ruling of 3-to-2, the court denied an appeal from the Wyoming Tribune Eagle newspaper. It had appealed a lower court ruling that upheld the 2014 actions of Laramie County School District No. 1 in refusing to turn over copies of email communications from school board members unless the newspaper paid the costs of compiling them on a disc.
The Supreme Court’s majority opinion, written by Justice William U. Hill, holds that Wyoming law allows public records custodians to charge reasonable fees if it’s necessary to copy an electronic record to allow inspection.
Given how records are stored, Hill said costs involved in producing an electronic record may extend beyond the cost of a paper copy or digital storage device used for the copy, “to include programming and other computer services.”
The school district had sought to bill the newspaper $110 to cover staff time required to retrieve emails sent by school board members from their personal computers.
Justices Michael Davis filed a dissenting opinion that Justice Kate Fox joined. Davis stated he believes state law prohibits charging fees for inspection of electronic records.
“The majority’s decision will encourage governmental entities to keep their electronic records in disarray, rather than properly organizing them so that they can be inspected,” Davis said. “In this case, much of the work to produce the emails was caused by the board members’ use of personal email addresses, where official and perhaps sensitive information could have been commingled with personal communications.”
Press advocates said they expect the ruling will limit the public’s ability to hold government entities accountable.
Brian K. Martin, managing editor of the Tribune Eagle, said Wednesday the newspaper is disappointed in the court ruling, saying it’s the role of newspapers to fight for citizens’ rights to see how their government is making decisions and spending their money.
“While we realize public records requests can take up staff time, we also strongly believe that they are just that - the public’s records - and agencies should be factoring in some staff time for granting such requests,” Martin said.
Jim Angell, executive director of the Wyoming Press Association, said he regards the ruling as a serious blow to the state’s public records act. The Associated Press is a member of the association.
“It will put another obstacle in the way of people who simply want to see the documents they have paid to create and store,” Angell said.
Cheyenne lawyer David Evans, representing the school board, said Wednesday the majority opinion was a straightforward interpretation of state law.
Asked about press concerns that the ruling will limit public access to information, Evans said, “Legislatures try to balance transparency and undue burden on an agency, and that’s what I think what the statute tries to do. But I think the thing that’s helpful for the public is that any cost charged has to be reasonable. And so I think that’s commonsense determination whether the costs are being unreasonable or reasonable and I think that will protect the public.”
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