Today in Strake v. Robinwood West Community Improvement District, the Missouri Supreme Court held that a government entity’s refusal to provide a citizen with public records amounts to a purposeful violation of Missouri’s Sunshine Law. The Supreme Court reversed the decision of a lower court, which had held that a government entity cannot have knowingly or purposefully violated the Sunshine Law when it does so on the advice of its attorney. Government bodies that knowingly or purposefully violate the public records law face a civil penalty and being required to pay the citizen’s attorneys’ fees.
The following may be attributed to Tony Rothert, Legal Director, ACLU of Missouri:
“The Sunshine Law plays a crucial role in providing the transparency that allows Missourians to hold our government officials accountable. Today’s decision will make it difficult for government entities to avoid the consequences of their decisions to violate our public records law.”
For press inquiries, contact Alona Sistrunk at (314) 649-5761 or asistrunk@aclu-mo.org.
