Sheridan County looking to charge Press $4K for records request

SHERIDAN — Sheridan County sent an invoice to The Sheridan Press projecting the paper’s public records request regarding the former elections supervisor’s termination would cost $4,000.

Former Sheridan County Elections Supervisor James Temple was fired Nov. 12, one week after Election Day. Temple told The Sheridan Press in December he had no disciplinary history as a county employee.

The Sheridan Press submitted a public records request Dec. 3, shortly after learning Temple had been fired. The Press requested emails between Temple and Sheridan County Clerk and Recorder Eda Schunk Thompson including the terms “election,” “voters,” “work,” “talk,” “conversation,” and “meet,” between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30, as well as Oct. 15 and Nov. 12; two time periods surrounding the primary and general elections, respectively.

The Press also requested documents related to Temple’s employment status, such as a contract or a termination notice.

Sheridan County Administrative Director Cameron Duff said county officials were “working on (the Press’) records request” Dec. 9.

On Dec. 17, Duff forwarded an invoice from Schunk Thompson. The invoice anticipated a total of 83 hours of staff time required to review the approximately 1,680 emails resulting from the Press’ request.

Of that total, the invoice indicates the county would charge the Press for 80 hours of clerk’s office staff time, including that of Schunk Thompson. At $50 per hour, 80 hours of staff time would cost $4,000.

Duff declined to charge The Press for IT’s time and the county attorney’s office declined to charge for its staff time.

In an email to Schunk Thompson and deputy county attorney Clint Beaver Dec. 19, Duff requested the invoice be withdrawn.

“I realize that you are spending a lot of time going through this, but for optics, this may be a situation where charging nothing may be the better option,” Duff wrote in an email to Schunk Thompson and Beaver, which was shared with The Sheridan Press.

Bob Bonnar, a member of the Wyoming Press Association legislative committee and publisher/editor-in-chief of the News Letter Journal, said the Wyoming Legislature implemented fees for public records requests “to address bad actors,” who place a large burden on public records holders.

“What (The Press) is doing right here is not one of those instances,” Bonnar said. “This is a clear item of public interest in Sheridan County that you are pursuing.”

Wyoming statute allows public officials to review documents subject to public records requests to protect confidential information.

“Reviewing information is an acceptable practice as long as it is performed within a reasonable timeframe,” Wyoming Press Association legal counsel Chris Wages said. “A governmental entity has a legitimate interest in performing a limited review to ensure that confidential information of (its) citizens can be protected.”

In 2019, the Sheridan County Board of County Commissioners designated the county’s administrative director to serve as a point of contact for all public records requests. In his role as administrative director, Duff oversees records for building maintenance, grants, IT, parks and recreation, planning, public works, the airport, public health, emergency management and the county commissioners.

“Every (other) elected official — so, the assessor, attorney, clerk of District Court, coroner, county clerk, sheriff and treasurer — they actually oversee their own documents,” Duff said. “I will pass (records requests) onto them. They do the research and determine if they’re going to fulfill that request or not.”

Schunk Thompson previously told The Sheridan Press she had not decided whether the elections supervisor position would be filled in the future. Bonnar said the public should be involved in the conversation, because it’s largely about whether to fund the position.

“I think that’s a conversation that it’s important for the people of Sheridan County to participate in,” Bonnar said. “People care about elections, all you’ve got to do is look at the last election and the one before that and the one before that. People care about elections.”

Schunk Thompson has not responded to multiple requests for comment about the invoice.

Duff informed The Sheridan Press Jan. 2 Schunk Thompson had worked 19 hours to that point to review 630 of the approximately 1,680 emails — which is an average of just more than 19 emails per day in The Press’ records request.

The Press granted Schunk Thompson an extension to Jan. 21 to fulfill the request; the original 30-day deadline was Jan. 3.