By Tim Horan, Salina Journal
Information about applicants for two newly created positions on the Saline County Commission should be made public, a Shawnee County judge ruled Friday in a lawsuit filed by the Salina Journal against Gov. Sam Brownback.
However, it was not clear when the information would be released.
“That is information that the residents of Saline County deserve to know,” said M. Olaf Frandsen, editor and publisher of the Salina Journal.
“The governor, for unknown reasons, differed from that opinion and attitude. It was our opinion, from our very first correspondence with his office, that we are dealing with information the Legislature intended to be public. And they were being denied that information and they had every right to know who he was considering as appointments to the Saline County Commission.”
Voters agreed in the Nov. 4 election to expand the Saline County Commission from three members to five. It was Brownback’s responsibility to appoint the two new members. Thirteen people applied. After interviewing applicants, Brownback appointed Luci Larson to represent District 4 and Dave Smith to represent District 5.
The Journal and The Associated Press filed the lawsuit in January, after Brownback refused to disclose the names or other information about the applicants, saying the applications were exempt from the Kansas Open Records Act.
Eileen Hawley, communication director for Brownback and also a defendant in the suit, said Friday afternoon that the governor’s office is reviewing the ruling.
“We just got that decision as well. We really need to review the ruling by Judge (Rebecca) Crotty and then we will determine what our options are at that point,” Hawley said.
Applications not exempt
In refusing to release the applications, the governor’s office alleged that they were covered by the Kansas Open Records Act because they were “individually identifiable records pertaining to employees or applicants for employment.”
However, Shawnee County District Judge Rebecca W. Crotty ruled that the applications are “not for state employment” and are not exempt from release under the Kansas Open Records Act.
Salina attorney Nathaniel Berg, who represented the Journal, said the governor has 30 days to decide whether to appeal the judge’s decision.
It is not clear when the governor’s office will release the applications, he said.
“There is no time period in the decision as to when they need to release the records,” he said.
Berg, who said the ruling was released at 1:54 p.m. Friday, said that Crotty spent some time on the decision.
“She’s obviously thought about this,” he said. “I could tell that she put in some time even prior to the oral arguments,” which were Thursday.
Ruling sets precedent
Frandsen said the ruling reaches beyond the borders of Saline County.
“This establishes a legal basis for the governor to disclose applicants for any and all appointments to public office in the future,” he said. “There now is legal precedent compelling that disclosure, meaning not only now will the residents of Saline County get the information to which they are entitled, in the future, the residents of Kansas will get information about all gubernatorial appointments to which they are entitled.”
Crotty said some information on the expression-of-interest form and applications should not be made public.
“The court was very specific in pointing out that the redacted information should include social security numbers, mothers’ maiden names and driver’s license numbers should they be a part of the application,” Frandsen said. “That is a perfectly valid, reasonable and smart part of the Kansas Open Records Act because I don’t believe that information should be public. I have no issue with that; I completely agree with it.”
Some came forward
At the time of the lawsuit, the Journal requested that people who had expressed interest in being appointed to the county commission come forward.
Five announced they had applied: former county commissioner Jerry Fowler, former commissioner Randy Duncan, Democratic county commission nominee Stephanie Cool, former Republican county commission candidate Duane Flaherty and Gary Nelson, who served on the Professional Advisory Committee for the Saline County Health Department.
“They came forward with the same attitude I possess, that the public should know,” Frandsen said. “They came forward and said who they are and they had no problem with it. I applauded them.”
Others did not announce their candidacy.
“I am a little disappointed that the remainder of the applicants didn’t come forward. I wonder why?” Frandsen said.
Saline County Clerk Don Merriman said the expression-of-interest forms weren’t submitted to his office, but went directly to the Director of Appointments for Brownback.
“If we would have had them here, you would have had them,” Merriman said. “We never saw them.”