UPDATE: City of Columbia will not appeal ruling in open records lawsuit
UPDATE 6/27: The City of Columbia released the following statement:
On June 26, 2018, Judge Jacobs in the 13th Judicial Circuit Court of Boone County, Missouri issued a final judgment on Count 1 in the case of Columbia Police Officers Association (CPOA) v. the City of Columbia. In the ruling, Judge Jacobs ordered the City of Columbia to pay a $1,000 fine, reimburse CPOA for its legal fees and expenses in the amount of $27,214.79, and required release of the surveys completed by officers of the Columbia Police Department.
The City of Columbia strongly disputes there was a knowing violation of the Missouri Sunshine Law, however, the City has made a determination to not appeal and will therefore comply with the judgment.
When the surveys were completed by officers of the Columbia Police Department, City Manager Mike Matthes committed to the officers that the surveys would remain confidential and he honored that commitment. As required by the Court’s Judgment, the surveys have been released to the CPOA and are also attached to this release.
UPDATE: Mayor Brian Treece tells ABC 17 News that the city will issue a statement on the judge’s order on Tuesday morning.
Treece, who criticized the way the city handled the situation with CPOA after the judge’s initial decision, said he would review the order for the city to pay before commenting further.
The case marks one of the first decisions by a judge on the limits of the Sunshine law’s protection over personnel records, CPOA executive director Dale Roberts said. Roberts told ABC 17 News that if the city decided to appeal the case, and the court upheld Jacobs’ decision, they could be awarded even more in legal fees.
“There are a lot of people who probably can’t afford to put up 30,000 [dollars] and engage in a year and a half of litigation to address an issue like this, and members of the public shouldn’t have to do that,” Roberts said.
ORIGINAL: The city of Columbia will pay $28,214.79 for violating the state’s open records law, according to a judge’s order on Tuesday.
The order from Boone County Judge Brouck Jacobs requires the city pay the Columbia Police Officers’ Association’s legal fees in their lawsuit over closed records.
Jacobs ruled that the city violated the state’s Sunshine Law in 2016 when it did not give the CPOA copies of surveys officers turned in about department morale. The city said the surveys should be closed, since they had personally identifiable information on them. The police union sued, and won after a bench trial in March.
The judge’s order awards the full amount of attorneys fees the CPOA requested at $26,556, as well as court costs of $658.79. Jacobs also fined the city $1,000 for violating the Sunshine Law.
The city has 30 days to appeal the decision.
