Lawsuit alleges Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office violated public records act
COEUR d’ALENE — A Hayden resident has filed a lawsuit against the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office and Bob Norris in his capacity as sheriff, asking the court to compel KCSO to disclose certain records.
John Grimm, who ran unsuccessfully for Kootenai County sheriff, filed the lawsuit Wednesday. The suit alleges that the sheriff’s office violated Idaho public records laws by partially denying a lawful request made earlier this month.
Grimm submitted a request to the sheriff’s office seeking records pertaining to the “list of job assignments or title” for a particular sheriff’s deputy from Jan. 1, 2021, through April 15 of this year, according to court documents. The deputy was not named in Grimm’s complaint.
The sheriff’s office partially denied the records request, Grimm said, on the grounds that the responsive personnel records were exempt from disclosure under Idaho’s sunshine laws.
In Idaho, personnel records of current and former public officials are generally exempt from disclosure to the public, other than the employee’s “public service or employment history, classification, pay grade and step, longevity, gross salary and salary history, including bonuses, severance packages, other compensation or vouchered and unvouchered expenses for which reimbursement was paid, status, workplace and employing agency.”
Grimm contends that the records he sought were not exempt and that he previously requested the same information about a different deputy and received it from the sheriff’s office.
Under Idaho law, the sole remedy for a person “aggrieved by the denial of a request for disclosure” is to petition the district court to compel the public agency to make the information available to the public. Grimm’s complaint asks the court to compel the sheriff’s office to disclose the requested records.
“The public records law protects each citizen’s right to monitor the actions of state and local government and to verify if their elected officials, in this case the county sheriff, treat all citizens equally,” Grimm’s complaint said in part.
Norris has denied allegations that his agency unlawfully withheld records.
“The sheriff and all members of the sheriff’s office are dedicated to transparency and accountability,” Norris said in a news release. “However, there are laws that govern employee investigations and what information can be released. The custodian of records and county civil attorney determine what is released.”
Sheriff Robert "Bob" Norris