Missouri officials can’t charge fees for attorney review of public records, court says
Government officials in Missouri cannot charge fees for the time attorneys spend reviewing public records prior to their release, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The ruling came in the case of Gross v. Parson, stemming from a 2018 public records request by Elad Gross, a Democrat who ran for attorney general last year. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s office charged Gross $3,618 for a cache of records on former Gov. Eric Greitens, a Republican.
The bill cited more than 90 hours of time for “research/processing” at $40 per hour.
Parson argued the Sunshine Law allows research or staff time to be charged. But the high court said attorney review time does not fall under either of those categories and that public records may be fulfilled without any attorney review time.
Kansas City attorney Bernie Rhodes, who filed a brief on behalf of The Kansas City Star and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch in support of Gross’ position, said the decision has far-reaching consequences.
“This is not a one-off case,” he said. “This is a game-changer.”
Rhodes noted that public officials in Missouri have often demanded payments for attorney research time that make it cost prohibitive to obtain public records.
“Public access has been restored to public records because for so long, governmental agencies, chief among them, the Governor’s office, have been using attorney review time as a roadblock to accessing public records,” Rhodes said in a phone interview.
“The Supreme Court today knocked down that roadblock and said that if the governor wants to consult a lawyer, just like if you or I want to consult a lawyer, he needs to pay for the lawyer himself and not pass that cost on to someone else. And it’s a great victory for transparency, it’s a great victory for Missourians.”
The state Supreme Court, in a 6-0 decision on the case, vacated an earlier ruling by the Cole County Circuit Court and sent it back.
The court also said Parson’s office failed to provide a detailed explanation, as required by law, for a delay on one of Gross’ records requests and failed to explain why portions of records on a second request were redacted.
The governor’s office said Wednesday that it was reviewing the decision.
“Our office will take all necessary steps to ensure compliance with the Missouri Supreme Court’s decision,” Parson’s office said in an email.
Other state agencies have also charged for legal review time. Transparency advocates argued there was no authorization for the charges under the Sunshine Law.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 29, 2021 at 5:20 PM.
