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Director denies Johns’ appeal seeking segregable materials from governor’s office; cites deliberative-process protections
Summary
After in-camera review, the director found drafts and deliberative communications withheld by the governor’s office were properly classified as protected (executive privilege/deliberative process) and denied Courtney Johns’s appeal for additional segregable disclosures.
Courtney Johns asked the director to order the governor’s office to release reasonably segregable factual and analytical material from withheld records about a proposed centralized homeless service campus. Johns said she was not seeking protected appraisal values or negotiation strategy but did want feasibility analyses, capacity projections, and other factual material.
Counsel for the governor’s office argued many withheld items are protected drafts or fall under executive-privilege provisions and that releasing budget-request attachments or internal deliberations would chill candid executive deliberations. The governor’s counsel pointed to targeted classifications in their written submission and described the role of the budgetary deliberative process.
The director conducted an in-camera review of the disputed records and concluded that drafts and materials discussing contemplated courses of action were properly classified under the applicable GRAMA exemptions cited by the office. He found the interest favoring restriction outweighed disclosure for the contested material now, while noting those interests may diminish over time and that record-by-record evaluation would remain available later.
For these reasons the director denied Johns’s appeal and said he would issue a written decision within seven business days; Johns may seek judicial review in district court within 30 calendar days if she chooses.