AG seeks more penalties on IPRA
Balderas says agencies frequently too slow on public records requests
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas on Thursday said he will help craft legislation asking state lawmakers to increase penalties for violations of the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act and the Open Meetings Act.
“I am calling for stronger penalties, and, quite frankly, to put teeth into the law once and for all,” he said. “I simply do not have the enforcement tools or the front-end fining ability I need to truly hold agencies accountable.”
Currently, if a citizen requests documents from a public agency and the agency does not respond, the citizen can sue in court and the agency can be held liable and is subject to fines.
However, if an agency provides some documentation, but not all of the requested material, there is no penalty for being partially compliant, Balderas said.
“Agencies know how to slow their production and ultimately a citizen has to convince a district judge that slowed production is worthy of a penalty, but there is no strict statutory penalty for that slowed production” or for purposely delaying the release of documentation, he said.
Balderas pointed to a Court of Appeals ruling earlier this week regarding animal welfare activist Marcy Britton’s 2009 IPRA request for documents related to the AG’s Animal Cruelty Task Force, under then-Attorney General Gary King.
Britton said the AG’s Office at that time failed to turn over about 350 emails that should have been part of the initial IPRA response.
In reversing an earlier ruling by a 2nd Judicial District Court judge who found that Britton was not entitled to statutory damages, the Court of Appeals found that public agencies can be ordered to pay fines for incomplete or inadequate responses.
Balderas also pointed to “a pattern of behavior” concerning incomplete or delayed IPRA requests at the University of New Mexico.
The Legislature has known about “systemic loopholes” in the law for years and they need to close those loopholes, he said. “Taxpayers deserve greater accountability. It’s absurd that taxpayers have to sue in a court of law and wait decades for accountability.”
Balderas also said he was calling on concerned citizens, watchdog organizations, lawmakers who champion open government and transparency, members of the press corps, and the Foundation for Open Government to get behind his effort to get the Legislature to finally address the issue.