Kansas town where cops raided newspaper now refuses to turn over public records
Kansas town where cops raided newspaper now refuses to turn over public records
The attorney hired by the city of Marion following the raids on a Kansas newsroom has blocked access to records that should be publicly available under state law.
I can understand the city attorney's position on private cell phones not being public records for city councilmen. The government doesn't actually have those devices, I'd imagine it'd need a court order to get the data itself. It really needs to go to court first to figure out how it plays with kansas law. This is one of the less objectionable issues at play, and frankly those records will be brought forth in the civil case during discovery.
The article states the Kansas Law which is pretty clear:
The law states:
"Public record" means any recorded informations, regardless of form, characteristics or locations, that is made, maintained or kept by or is in possession of
(A) Any public agency; or
(B) any officer or employee of a public agency pursuant to the officer's or employee's official duties and that is related to the functions, activities, programs or operations of any public agency.