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Nevada’s Supreme Court solidly reinforced the state’s public records law by ruling Thursday that government officials can’t hide the public’s business on personal cell phones and computers.
In siding with the Comstock Residents Association, the court said: “The use of private entities in the provision of public services must not deprive members of the public access to inspect and copy books and records relating to the provision of those services.”
Residents in the Silver City area had asked for records from Lyon County commissioners to bolster their fight against the Comstock Mining Inc. over a controversial zoning decision.
The dispute dates back to 2013, when Comstock Mining Inc. wanted to change the zoning in Silver City to allow mining on its property. Although its staff and planning commission recommended against the change, Lyon County commissioners decided to remove the restrictions against mining in the tiny community.
Leading up to the decision, according to the residents’ lawsuit, one of the commissioners said she had been discussing the issue with other commissioners by e-mail and cell phone. The anti-mining residents asked Lyon County for records related to the zoning change and received many — but none that were contained on the officials’ personal devices.
A district court judge ruled against the residents, who appealed to the Supreme Court.
In his opinion, Justice Michael Cherry wrote:
Public records are not limited to records maintained in government offices, but include all records concerning the provision of a public service.
Here’s the full ruling: 18-12053 public records decision
The case will return to district court to determine which of the documents sought by Comstock residents are considered “public business.”
“The Board’s argument that the privacy rights of the commissioners could be violated by disclosing public records from the commissioners’ private devices and emails cannot be evaluated without further development of the district court record. Having concluded that public records are not beyond the NPRA’s reach merely because they are privately maintained, we decline any bright line rule that privacy concerns always outweigh the presumption that public records are to be disclosed,” Cherry wrote.
That could raise more questions, but the Supreme Court has settled the issue of whether officials could use their personal devices to hide what otherwise would be public documents — an issue that has generally fallen on the side of openness in other states.
The Nevada court cited several cases to support its position, including rulings in California, Idaho and Illinois.
