TACOMA — The Pierce County prosecutor has asked the Washington Supreme Court to block disclosure of his telephone records.
Two briefings were filed with the court last week, asking the justices to review a Sept. 9 ruling by the state Court of Appeals, The News Tribune reported.
The appeals court ruled that a lower court must examine Mark Lindquist’s personal phone records and text messages to determine whether any meet the standard for public disclosure.
Appealing to the state’s highest court delays that examination.
The county has paid $253,449 to outside attorneys working on the case, according to billing records from the county’s risk management division. The county’s recent petition to the Supreme Court was written by Seattle attorney Phil Talmadge, a former Supreme Court justice.
Open-government advocates have been watching the phone-records case closely, since this case is one of a series of legal disputes involving public officials using private devices for work-related communications.
The underlying case, Nissen v. Pierce County, goes back to 2011. Glenda Nissen, a sheriff’s deputy, sued for access to Lindquist’s personal cellphone records and copies of text messages sent over a period of a few days, arguing they contained material relevant to public business.
The county and Lindquist argued the records were private. The lower court agreed. Nissen appealed and the appeals court reversed the lower court, finding the records could be public if they pertained to public business.
“That such government-business-related text messages were contained on a personal cellular phone is irrelevant,” the appeals court ruled, citing prior decisions by the state Supreme Court.
In his brief to the Supreme Court, Talmadge, representing the county, called the effort to access Lindquist’s records “a fishing expedition.” He contends Lindquist doesn’t meet the definition of an “agency” under the public records law, so he isn’t subject to disclosure requirements.
Talmadge’s brief argues Lindquist used his personal phone to make political calls to obey state law and avoid using public resources for campaign purposes.
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