Bainbridge council members’ email not private
Published 1:08 pm Tuesday, November 5, 2013
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — A judge ordered three Bainbridge Island City Council members to hand over the hard drives from their personal computers because they may contain emails about city business.
Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Jeannette Dalton said that government officials who conduct public business on private computers cannot expect the records to remain private.
The Kitsap Sun reported that the judge ruled Friday in a public records request lawsuit from political blogger Althea Paulson and community watchdog Bob Fortner. They requested emails from May 1 to June 22 and said council members failed to release personal emails about city business.
The judge dismissed the council members — Steve Bonkowski, Debbi Lester and David Ward — from the lawsuit as individuals, but the legal action is still pending against the city.
