Louisiana Press Association Submits Brief in Public Records Case

CENTRAL — The Louisiana Press Association, representing 127 daily and weekly newspapers across the state, has submitted a brief for consideration by the Louisiana 1st Circuit Court of Appeal in support of the Central City News.

The newspaper filed suit against CH2MHILL in April 2010, in connection with public records in its possession relative to its then-existing Master Privatization agreement with the City of Central.

The Louisiana Press Association hired special counsel to prepare the brief, in the form of Lloyd Lunceford, who is also counsel for the Baton Rouge Advocate and who has represented the Advocate on a large number of important public records cases.

In order to provide the people of Central with the legal reasoning of the Louisiana Press Association in this case, the brief has been uploaded to the Internet. Here are a few excerpts:

Louisiana Press Association brief with Court of Appeal:

“The facts presented in this case are like nothing ever seen before by a Louisiana court.  The comprehensive privatization agreement between the City of Central and CH2MHILL represents one of the broadest examples of outsourcing of municipal functions to a single provider in U.S. history.  At issue is whether a single private company that provides virtually all of a municipality’s governmental services pursuant to a mass outsourcing agreement with the municipality is subject to any of the provisions of Louisiana’s Public Records Act.”

“For all practical purposes, CH2M is more than an instrument of Central.  Under its unprecedented comprehensive contract, CH2M is de facto the administration of the City of Central.”

“…Central became what is known as a ‘contract city’ and the requested records relating to the March 26, 2010, We Are Central advertisement are directly related to CH2M’s performance of governmental functions under its contract with Central and are thus ‘public records’ under the Act.”

“In the face of increasing privatization and the emergence of ‘contract cities,’ like Central, it is necessary for this Court to clarify the applicability of Louisiana’s Public Records Act to a private company that performs almost all of the traditional governmental functions of a municipality.”

“The trial court’s ruling in this case, if left undisturbed, will effectively negate access to public records, accountability and transparency in government, and the ability of Louisiana citizens to stay informed about the operations of their own government.”

“The Louisiana Supreme Court has likewise held that a private company can be subject to the Public Records Act… in Guste v. Nicholls College Foundation… the Court noted: ‘If a private corporation accepts money from a public body in the discharge of the latter’s constitutional or legal duties, it must disclose records concerning those transactions, including the receipt and expenditure of those funds.’”

The 27-page brief submitted by the LPA provides a comprehensive review of the case, which we believe is solidly on the side of public disclosure.  We invite you to review the brief, which ison the Internet at www.issuu.com/libertytoday/docs/ccn_court_brief

By Woody Jenkins, Editor, Central City News