Dive Brief:
- Emails between an Indiana lawmaker and utility officials will remain private, The Indianapolis Star reports, following a state Supreme Court's decision that they fall under a "work product" exemption to open records laws.
- However, the court did go on to say that the state's legislature is not exempt from the Indiana Access to Public Records Act – though legislators are the ones who decide what material is exempted.
- Last year, several groups, including the Citizens Action Coalition, filed a lawsuit demanding to see emails exchanged between House Energy Committee Chairman Eric Koch (R) and utilities as the state was considering solar energy legislation.
Dive Insight:
The Indianapolis Star reports on the 4-1 ruling to come out of the state's Supreme Court this week, explaining that while it is a qualified victory for open records advocates, it still won't result in access to the records in question.
But according to some, the ruling "shuts the door to transparency," Kerwin Olson, executive director of the Citizens Action Coalition, told the newspaper. CAC was one of three groups to sue for access to emails between lawmakers and utility executive. The decision "leaves it up to politicians to decide what should and shouldn't be disclosed when they have unilaterally claimed exception from APRA and withheld every single public record," he said.
Emails between Rep. Koch and utility officials could have included employees at Duke Energy and Indianapolis Power & Light Co., The Indianapolis Star reported.
The often close connection between regulators and lawmakers and utility officials has been in the headlines recently. Two years ago, an email scandal in California forced the retirement of a staffer at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), as well as firings at Pacific Gas and Electric, amid revelations the utility's cozy relationship with regulators allowed them to request favorable judges.
The Indiana decision was not unanimous. Justice Robert Rucker, the sole dissenting vote, wrote "the majority’s ruling is not only premature, but it unfortunately weighs in on a significant separation of powers issue without an adequate record.”
Citizens Action Coalition issued a statement saying it agreed with the court's conclusion that the General Assembly is subject APRA, but said the work product exemption "has deprived us ... of any opportunity to make arguments that the work product exception is inapplicable to any and all legislative communications."
