Posted on Mon, Feb. 11, 2008
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Challenging government secrecy can put hole in people's pocketbooks
By EMILY LE COZ and GEOFF PENDER
NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI DAILY JOURNAL and SUN HERALD
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TUPELO --
And Mississippi's open-government laws carry a caveat that makes it even tougher for citizens to prevail in court: They must, in most instances, prove a public official "willfully, knowingly and substantially" denied them access to information or proceedings."You rarely see individuals who can take that risk," Van Slyke said.
Kinney, of course, did. But despite his victory, including the reimbursement of about $20,000 in legal costs, the ordeal didn't leave him impressed with Mississippi open government laws or their enforcement.
"If enforcement of these laws means you have to go hire a lawyer, then that's an impediment to the process," Kinney said. "A $100 fine is a joke, and they need to punish the agency heads, not the agency. My case cost the Development Commission $20,000. But it didn't cost (the director of the agency) 10 cents. He wasn't facing a fine, or loss of any of his money for not giving me records I was entitled to. It cost the citizens $20,000 for his actions. He just figured he would use the county's money to play the game. They shredded records rather than give them to me.
"Penalize the person not giving you the information, and provide for a fine of a substantial amount of money for a violation. Those records belong to the person who is asking for them, not to the government official who's holding them."
While some agencies, including the attorney general's office and local district attorneys, potentially could investigate and prosecute violations of open government laws, no one is specifically assigned the job.
As opposed to some other states, the laws in Mississippi give no statutory authority to the attorney general's office to file cases or assess penalties to violators of the open records and open meetings acts, said Mike Lanford, deputy state attorney general.
"If they funded us for four or five attorneys and set us up with an office, we could take every complaint from an individual who turns one in," Lanford said. "But I don't think we'd be authorized to represent an individual in a private lawsuit such as that."
Lanford did acknowledge the state has a weak enforcement provision and said he believes the public needs a better remedy than what currently is in place.
But his office does what it can to enlighten public officials about their responsibilities. Lanford said before the newly elected chancery and circuit clerks took office in January, he talked to them about the sunshine laws.
"I tell them it's real easy to comply with the Public Records law because you've only got to remember one thing: Everything is a public record, and you have to give it to them unless there is an exemption," Lanford said.
Emily Le Coz of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported from Tupelo and Geoff Pender of the Sun Herald reported from Gulfport.
