Deschutes DA publishes public records decisions

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel on Thursday began publishing the decisions he issues in appeals of local government agency decisions to withhold records from members of the public.

Oregon law authorizes a person who is denied a public record from a local government agency to file an appeal with their local district attorney. In Hummel’s first four years in office, he’s ruled on 15 such appeals, but until now, these decisions were not readily accessible to the public.

Those decisions are themselves public records and they are now available on the District Attorney’s website going back to 2015. Newly issued decisions will be posted to the site within 48 hours of issuance.

Statement from District Attorney Hummel:

“The government’s business is the people’s business and the records of the work of government thus belong to the public. When the public is denied access to one of their records, I need to conduct a swift, thorough, and fair review of the decision to withhold the record. And after this review I need to inform the public whether the decision to withhold the record was authorized by law or in violation of the law. Posting my decisions in these cases on the District Attorney’s public website allows the public to review my work and hold me accountable if they disagree with my decisions.”