WWPD sued over public records request
By Dan Thesman on Thursday, December 21st, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WALLA WALLA – A Milton-Freewater man has filed a lawsuit against the Walla Walla Police Department. Jose Luis Rodriguez Jr. alleges the department violated the public records act when he submitted a request via email on Sept. 20, 2022.
Rodriguez, who is representing himself, claims WWPD was wrong when it withheld almost an entire closed police case report, failed to provide exemptions or an adequate exemption log for the withheld portions of those records, failed to provide any exemptions for the redactions made on some of the pages that were provided on the exemption log, and silently withheld an unknown number of disclosed pages of records he requested.
Court documents show that aside from asking the court to rule in his favor to have the records released, Rodriguez is also asking to be awarded all costs, court filing fees, plus up to $100 per page, per day, for each page and day that the department denied to provide copies of the withheld records and denied what he claims is his right to inspect or copy such public record.
Staff from the city attorney’s office said a hearing on the matter is set for Feb. 5, 2024.
