Missouri court denies Gov. Mike Parson’s motion to stop records request for ’407.1500’
A Missouri court on Wednesday rejected Gov. Mike Parson’s attempt to block a Sunshine Law request for records that would show how often his office uses a certain state law to deny other records requests.
Parson’s administration went to court last week asking the Western District Court of Appeals to shield the governor’s office from having to turn over emails containing the number “407.1500” that attorney Mark Pedroli had requested in a Sunshine request. The number refers to a state statute unrelated to records disclosure that the administration has invoked to deny other records requests.
The administration had already denied Pedroli’s Sunshine request for the emails. But in an unusual move, Parson’s office went a step further last week and sought a court order that would ensure it wouldn’t have to turn over the records.
Parson’s motion cited the fact that Pedroli had previously sought the records through discovery, in a pending case against Parson’s office over the Sunshine Law that dates back to former Gov. Eric Greitens’ use of the text message-destroying app Confide. Those records were never turned over during discovery as Pedroli lost the case in Cole County Circuit Court; he appealed it to the Western District appeals court in April.
“The Sunshine Law request … attempts to circumvent the Trial Court’s discovery order and appeal pending before this Court,” Parson’s attorneys wrote last week.
The court’s denial of that request does not order his office to give Pedroli the emails in response to the Sunshine request. But Pedroli said it “doesn’t judicially close the records.”
“They wanted the appellate court to sanction or give them permission to close their records,” he said. “Why else would you run to the court unless you had some doubt about your ability to close the records?”
Parson’s spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment.
If the governor’s office does not turn over the records, Pedroli said he will consider filing suit over the Sunshine request denial.
After filing the motion to block the records request, the governor’s office this week denied an identical request for the emails from The Star, citing Pedroli’s case. Custodian of Records Taylor Jones cited a state law that allows, but does not require, records related to legal actions and litigation involving public governmental bodies to be closed.
The dispute over “407.1500” grew out of the larger Confide case that Pedroli filed in 2017 on behalf of government transparency activist Ben Sansone. It alleged that Greitens’ office was destroying records in violation of the Sunshine Law.
The “407.1500” law had been cited by the governor’s office to deny requests for cell phone numbers used by the governor. The law allows the attorney general to sue businesses and organizations when they fail to provide notice of a breach of personal information. A circuit court judge has previously said the decision to cite the law to deny records represented a “novel approach” and suggested the argument is a stretch.
In 2019, Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem ruled that the use of Confide by Greitens, who is now running for U.S. Senate, and his staff didn’t violate the Sunshine Law, delivering a blow to transparency advocates. Then, in December 2020, Beetem found the governor’s office had illegally redacted information — but reversed himself weeks later.