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The Politics Blog
Brad Shannon maintains this blog. He is political editor at The Olympian and can be reached at 360-753-1688 or bshannon@theolympian.com.
Court says Thurston County must pay on records delay
Open-government advocates hailed yesterday’s court of appeals ruling that favored local activist and legal gadfly Arthur West in a battle for Thurston County lawyer-fee records.
It looks like the county will pay for having delayed release of legal cost information related to the sexual discrimination case that went to trial against the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
The opening lines of the court’s unanimous, 3-0 decision go this way:
Arthur West sought public disclosure of records of the defendant law firm's billings to Thurston County. West also sued the law firm for breach of its contract with the County. The trial court dismissed both claims and West now appeals. We affirm dismissal of the contract action because West was not a party to the contract and thus lacked standing. But we reverse the dismissal of the public disclosure claim. West was entitled to the non-privileged parts of the firm's billings, and although the County produced the records, it did so only after West sued to compel production. Accordingly, West is entitled to costs and penalties for the County's failure to timely produce the records, and we remand for a determination thereof.
The case now goes back to Mason County Superior Court for the award of fees to West. Shelton-based Judge Toni Sheldon originally dismissed West’s claims for damages.
Open-records lawyer Greg Overstreet Og-Blog called the appellate ruling a “great decision” under this headline in his Og-Blog entry: “Great New Case on Disclosure of Agency Attorney Invoices.’’ Overstreet noted the underlying case led to legislation, which incidentally The Olympian had backed editorially:
It involves a request for Thurston County's outside-counsel legal invoices in a sexual harassment suit. In response to requests for these very records, the Legislature passed a special law saying, in essence, turn these records over. The County's outside lawyer, Michael Patterson, still fought to prevent disclosure. Now the County owes the requestor penalties and costs, and must also (ironically) pay the legal invoices from Michael Patterson for defending this appeal.
Oh, well. It really isn't anyone's money.
Oh, well. It really isn't anyone's money.
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