EDITORIAL: AG's Office needs to move quickly on IPRA request
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Apr. 7—N.M. Attorney General Hector Balderas has some explaining to do.
New Mexico's Inspection of Public Records Act guarantees the public the right to inspect and copy all public records, except as provided by law. The AG's Office is responsible for enforcing the state's public records law, and Balderas hasn't been shy about calling out entities that fall short.
And that's a good thing. Example: The AG's Office recently sent a seven-page letter to Rio Rancho officials explaining why the city's refusal to release police records in the apparent gunshot death of the toddler son of a Santa Fe policeman Dec. 8 violated the public records law.
Under IPRA, the records custodian must either permit inspection within 15 calendar days after receiving the request or send a written notice explaining the denial.
But a new lawsuit claims the AG's Office has dragged its feet producing its own records from an IPRA request. Last week, former Albuquerque Police Chief Michael Geier filed suit alleging the AG's Office violated IPRA as it has not turned over documents requested last year. Penalties for not complying with IPRA can hit $100 a day in damages, plus costs and attorneys fees.
Geier was chief from late 2017 when Mayor Tim Keller took office until he was asked to resign in September 2020. Last May his attorney, Thomas Grover, requested all documents and correspondence between APD and the AG's Office related to Geier and his former executive assistant, Paulette Diaz, since the beginning of the year.
Eleven months later, Grover says he hasn't received any documents. "Here we have the state's own point agency for enforcing IPRA not following IPRA, and I think it's going to be a problem." Grover said.
If the allegations in Grover's suit are accurate, he is right. It shouldn't take a lawsuit to get the state's top law enforcement agency to produce records or state clearly why it won't.
This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.