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Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Ind. Decisions - More on: High school student prevails in suit against Kokomo mayor in public access issue
Yesterday the ILB reported here (including links to the court and PAC opinions) that Ryan Nees has prevailed in his suit against Mayor Matt McKillip.
Today Vic Ryckert of the Indianapolis Star has a comprehensive report. Some quotes:
A Howard County judge on Monday handed a resounding legal victory to a Western High School student locked in an open records fight with Kokomo Mayor Matt McKillip. * * *Circuit Court Judge Lynn Murray ordered McKillip to honor 16-year-old Ryan's request for a list of the e-mail addresses of 1,400 subscribers to the city's electronic newsletter. The judge also ordered the city to pay Ryan's legal fees of more than $5,000. The mayor said he has not decided whether to appeal.
But state senators already have acted to change the law that would turn the e-mail addresses over to Nees, and the proposal is now under consideration in the House.
Indiana's open records law requires agencies to make most of the documents they create available to the public, with the goal of giving people "full and complete information regarding the affairs of government." The only exemptions are spelled out in detail.
"Had the legislature intended to exempt a list of e-mail addresses, it could and would have done so," Murray said in a 10-page ruling.
Ryan requested a copy of the list in July, after he said he subscribed to the city newsletter and suddenly started getting campaign messages.
"I was concerned that he might be spamming people for campaign purposes," Ryan said. "Citizens give a certain amount of trust when they subscribe to these things. It's important not to corrupt that trust by sending out political messages, and that's what the mayor did." * * *
When the mayor's office turned him down, Ryan filed a complaint against the city with the state public records counselor, who sided with him in a Sept. 9 opinion.
"A public agency must make reasonable efforts to provide a person all disclosable data stored in an electronic data storage system," Karen Davis wrote.
The access counselor has no authority to order public officials to comply with the open records law and the city disagreed with her ruling. The case ended up in court because, under Indiana law, a person seeking documents can ask a court to step in. * * *
The mayor may yet emerge victorious in the Statehouse. Senate Bill 205, a proposal to rewrite the law and protect e-mail addresses, passed the Indiana Senate 48-0 and is being considered by the Indiana House. The measure was sponsored by Sen. Jeff Drozda, R-Westfield, whose district includes part of Kokomo.
"It's bigger than spam," McKillip said, pointing to the threat of computer viruses and inappropriate content on the Internet. "When people sign up to receive the city's newsletter, they do not sign up to receive mail from anyone else."
This is a case where state law has not kept pace with the times, McKillip said, noting his lawyers told him to expect to lose the records case. "That's why we also have the issue being addressed in the state legislature," he said. "The state legislature is well on its way to updating and modernizing its laws."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 21, 2006 06:23 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions | Indiana Government | Indiana Law