In a victory for transparency advocates, Las Cruces has paid out nearly $95,000 in penalties and fees and relinquished documents associated to its Public Safety Select Committee after a judge's ruling in a case that found the city was not following New Mexico's public records law.
Third Judicial Court Judge James T. Martin handed down his ruling on July 29. He ordered the city to release all responsive and non-privileged documents and provide a written description of the withheld documents after the city took responsibility and agreed it had over-redacted some documents.
The case goes back to June 2023, when Michael L. Hays, a Las Cruces resident, requested the committee's communications since Jan. 6, 2020. His request, under the state's Inspection of Public Records Act, sought emails for meetings, member's social media messages, announcements, agendas, notes, memos, reports and recommendations.
Officials withheld records and redacted portions of other records without proper explanation in violation of the law, argued Peter Goodman, a Las Cruces attorney who represented Hays in the legal complaint brought against the city a year ago, on Aug. 29, 2023. Goodman is a longtime Sun-News columnist who writes about Las Cruces issues.
State law requires public agencies to explain in writing any records they shield from inspection. They must provide the name of the person and job title of whom is responsible for denying the records.
"We erred on the side of non-disclosure, but it was a learning experience and in the future if it (a request) is a close call, we will err on the side of disclosure and transparency," Las Cruces City Manager Brad Douglas said on Friday.
Douglas noted how the city averages about 1,800 IPRA requests annually and does an outstanding job of fulfilling a large volume of them. It was unfortunate that one of them ended up in court, he said.
Reached by phone on Wednesday, Goodman was upbeat about the message the court decision sends.
"It will encourage compliance and educate public entities," he said.
The release of the record was a mixed bag for Hays, who said he still has lingering questions about what the committee does and whether it remains active.
"It's still a mystery to me," he said of the documents he inspected. "Quite honestly I'm not sure what they tell me."
He said he's asked city officials, including the mayor, whether the committee exists and had received no answer.
Douglas, too, said he did not know the status of the committee and referred questions to the mayor or clerk's offices.
Hays, who has an interest in police reform, said he became curious about the advisory committee and its activities after he learned of its existence during a May 22, 2023 meeting at which Goodman and other residents had asked the City Council to establish a police oversight panel . The following month, Hays lodged his records request with the city.
The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government in announcing the ruling earlier in August noted the award was for $73,100 in attorney fees and $21,845 in penalties to Hays.
A retired Washington, D.C. consultant in the fields of national defense, energy and the environment, Hays said he used the money to make a $20,000 donation to Camp Hope. The balance will pay the taxes on the award. The nonprofit camp provides temporary housing in the Mesilla Valley to people who are living on the street.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Las Cruces man who sued for Public Safety panel's records prevails; city pays $95K
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