A district judge has ruled that Clark County violated the Nevada Public Records Act by withholding records about the firing of a public works official, according to a court order released Friday.
“We are gratified that after seeking these records for so long the court has vindicated the public’s right to access these important records and confirmed, yet again, that governments that withhold entire categories of records clearly violate the Nevada Public Records Act,” said Ben Lipman, chief legal officer for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It is a shame Clark County has wasted so much time and taxpayer money on this.”
An attorney for the county did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
The Review-Journal sued the county in March, seeking records tied to an investigation of Jimmy Floyd, the now-fired head of the county’s construction management division, and documents about the process that allowed lucrative construction management contracts to be awarded to Floyd’s wife.
During a court hearing earlier this month, District Judge Bita Yeager said she would order the county to provide unredacted copies of bid evaluations. She also ordered the county to provide unredacted versions of other documents for the court to review, to determine if they could be released to the Review-Journal.
Friday’s order formalizes the finding. County officials already have begun turning some investigative records over to the news organization, which is in the process of reviewing the documents. The order also states that officials must begin reviewing and releasing requested email communications on a rolling basis.
The Review-Journal requested the records over a year ago, and county officials have claimed they are confidential because the documents are personnel records. The news organization has argued that the records are not confidential, and that the public’s interest in transparency outweighs “any conceivable interest in nondisclosure,” according to the lawsuit.
Yeager rejected the county’s argument that a county ordinance allows officials to entirely withhold employee misconduct evaluations. The Nevada Public Records Act states that all government public records are open to inspection, except when there is an exemption outlined in a statue that makes the record confidential, according to order.
The order states that “the wholesale withholding of the Investigative Records violated the NPRA, and they must be produced.”
Yeager also found that the Review-Journal is entitled to have the county pay its costs and attorneys fees incurred in the proceeding.
Another hearing in the case is scheduled for June 3 for the county to provide an update on the production of the email communications and privilege logs documenting any portions of documents the county wishes to redact.
At the hearing, the judge also will decide if she will set an evidentiary hearing to determine if sanctions will be imposed on Clark County for “willful violations” of the state public records law.
The Review-Journal reported in May that the county had awarded a $10 million contract to a team that included Rock Solid Project Solutions, a firm owned by Floyd’s wife, Raquel. The firm stood to make $1.5 million on the contract to provide construction management services for the 215 Beltway & Summerlin Parkway Interchange Project.
The contract was awarded without interviewing other top-ranking teams. Floyd managed the bidding process and was among the evaluators who ranked the proposals, the county previously confirmed.
Floyd was suspended in May, and the county fired him in August.
Without the records requested by the Review-Journal, it remained unclear if other officials were involved in the contract decision, if the county followed its own conflict-of-interest policies, and if other employees were disciplined.
“The NPRA must be construed liberally in accordance with its purpose of fostering democratic principles by providing prompt access to public records,” Friday’s order stated.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.
Order Granting Public Records Act Application 4908-0617-8222 1 (1) by Tony Garcia
