Delaware County judge rules Grove must release records

Friday, April 9th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

JAY, Okla. (AP) -- A district judge on Thursday ruled that the city of Grove must release as public records the resume of its city attorney and packets of information given to city councilors before meetings.

Delaware County District Judge Barry Denney issued a summary judgment ruling that Grove must release the documents as requested by former Grove banker Earl Shero.

Denney ruled that the city must release the resume of City Attorney Dorothy Parker because it was filed in lieu of an application. Job applications are public records under the Oklahoma Open Records Act.

The judge also ruled that individual items in the packets -- such as social security numbers -- may be exempted under the law, but that does not mean the entire packets can be withheld.

Parker had argued that Shero's request would result in a substantial record-keeping burden as an additional 40 packets would have to be prepared each month. She said the extra packets would take up employees' time and storage space. She placed a stack of 40 packets on a courtroom table to show how much space they would require.

She said even more time would be taken up by employees ensuring that no items were in the packet that should not be released to the public.

Bob Jenkins, an attorney for Shero, argued that disclosing the records would not create a substantial record-keeping burden and it was up to the city to remove anything from the packets that should not be disclosed.

Denney refused to rule on other records that were not specifically mentioned in court filings but disputed by attorneys in court.

Denney said it would be up to the district attorney's office to enforce his ruling and determine whether the law had been broken.