JEFFERSON CITY — Attorney General Eric Schmitt on Wednesday accused the Rockwood School District of violating the Sunshine Law in connection with a records request his office filed last year.
Schmitt’s office said in a news release it had requested records related to a move by the district to publish on its website the number for an FBI tip line connected to the federal law enforcement agency’s move to probe threats to school board members.
According to a news release, Schmitt’s team on Nov. 19 asked the district for three types of electronic records, including emails about parents who had been or could be reported to the FBI.
Schmitt’s office said Rockwood “demanded up-front payment of fees” and asked for a deposit “to ‘prepare copies’ of requested records even though all records requested were electronic in nature and do not require copying,” the lawsuit says.
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His office’s lawsuit, filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court, argues the state’s open records law “makes no provision for the advance payment of any fees other than the copying fees expressly allowed under § 610.026.2.”
The lawsuit asks for a judgment declaring the district broke the law by “impermissibly demanding advance payment of fees for items or services other than copies” and that Rockwood also improperly demanded “payment of copying fees for electronic records.”
“I think that’s interesting,” said Jean Maneke, attorney for the Missouri Press Association. “It does raise an interesting question, the way the statute about requesting prior payment is worded, it does say ‘payment of such copying fees may be requested prior to’ doing the work.”
But can a public governmental body demand payment for “research time” prior to processing requests?
“I can see that there might be an argument that that doesn’t include any research time that’s estimated in that — only the copying fees,” Maneke said. “But there is no case law at the moment interpreting this with that kind of precision.
“It’s unclear whether they can request advanced payment of the research time,” she said.
Maneke also said it was unclear whether the law permitted copying fees to be charged for both electronic records and paper records.
“The Rockwood School District has not produced the records requested by my office, and instead demanded an upfront payment with improperly assessed copying fees — that’s why I’m taking them to court,” Schmitt, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, said in a news release. “Parents and students of the Rockwood School District deserve to see these public records, and I will keep fighting for transparency in Missouri’s schools.”
Mary Lapak, spokeswoman for the Rockwood School District, said administrators were “confident” they adhered to the state’s open-records law.
“We are aware of the attorney general’s lawsuit against the Rockwood School District but we have not been officially served with the document,” she said in a statement. “The District understands its obligations under the Missouri Sunshine Law, and is confident it has acted in compliance. Once we are served with the lawsuit, we will confer with our attorneys as to next steps.”
The lawsuit by Schmitt’s office goes on to allege that the district failed to produce the records in question.
It also says Rockwood improperly retains fees for Sunshine Law requests. Schmitt seeks fines of $1,000 and $5,000, for knowing and purposeful violations of the Sunshine Law.
Chris Nuelle, spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said staff had not paid the fees requested by the district. A dollar figure on the fees requested wasn’t immediately provided.
