Local publisher urges board to adopt device-and-records policy after public-records lawsuit

Rebecca Turner, publisher of the Stanley Community News, used the public-comment period to urge the district to adopt revised policy 18-17 governing technology use by board members and records searches. Turner said the newsroom filed a public-records lawsuit after months of incomplete responses and, after the suit was filed, the district produced additional records that Turner said revealed "hundreds of pages of emails" that had not previously been disclosed and showed board members conducting district business on personal email accounts.

Turner told the board the requested policy would require board members to use district-issued devices and accounts for district business, establish procedures for forwarding district-related records that appear on personal devices to the district’s public-records officer, and require cooperation with record searches and submission of affidavits describing searches. Turner said the policy was part of a settlement request and described it as protecting residents’ right to access records and giving clear guidance to board members.

The Chair thanked Turner for her comments; the board did not take immediate action on policy 18-17 during the meeting and indicated public comments would be followed up on after the meeting if appropriate. No board response disputing Turner’s account appeared in the meeting record.