Article published Mar 6, 2008

Environmental group sues city for documents

By RICHARD ECKE

Tribune Staff Writer

City documents should be released to the public, even if they are in draft form, two attorneys said Wednesday in state District Court in Great Falls.

The Montana Environmental Information Center sued the city of Great Falls last year for refusing to release documents the city said were drafts. The requested papers deal with the city's relationship with Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission Cooperative, which wants to build a coal-fired power plant east of Great Falls. The city hopes to own a portion of the plant if it is built.

City Attorney David Gliko told District Judge E. Wayne Phillips of Lewistown that if the city loses the case, any scrap of paper with writing on it that is inside city buildings could be fair game for people wanting to examine city documents.

"The city's going to have to lease a warehouse" to store all those pieces of paper, Gliko said.

MEIC attorney Kim Wilson of Helena argued that the documents should be released, saying the authors of the Montana Constitution wanted residents to be able to "look over the shoulder of the public officials."

Gliko cited a 1995 Montana Supreme Court case in which a Butte-area man sued a school district. The man wanted to examine documents to see why his child was not chosen for the National Honor Society. The court sided with the school district.

Wilson said that in that case, the school district had nothing to do with selecting students for the National Honor Society, so the requested papers were not district documents. Gliko argued that the school district had some custody of the materials.

Attorney Mike Meloy, representing the Montana Newspaper Association, disagreed with Gliko's contention that a city loss in the case would open a "floodgate" of requests for documents. Meloy said the lawsuit covers only documents the city already has in hand.

Phillips said the Montana Supreme Court has offered a "broad, liberal interpretation" of state law governing public documents. Gliko urged the judge to take into account "real-world considerations" and common sense.

Wilson then told Phillips, "There's simply no reason under the law for these documents not to be released."

Phillips said he hopes to issue a ruling in the case by early April. The losing party could choose to appeal to the Montana Supreme Court.