Doña Ana County loses $90K open records lawsuit

LAS CRUCES - A state judge has ordered Doña Ana County government to pay more than $90,000 to an Alamogordo-based pet advocacy group for failing to hand over public records in a timely way.

Alamogordo nonprofit Animal Village NM sued the county in late 2015, alleging officials had not provided public records in response to a request made under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act, one of the state's key government-transparency laws. The lawsuit sought compliance with the state law.

In late January, 3rd Judicial District Judge Mary Rosner concluded that the county "had not acted in a manner consistent with the well-articulated public policy of the state of New Mexico" regarding open records. She awarded Animal Village NM costs, actual damages and attorney fees, as called for by the records act in instances of noncompliance, totaling $90,334, according to court records.

"Instead of using good judgment and common sense, the Respondents (county) sought a variety of ways to keep public records needed by Petitioners ...," Rosner writes in the ruling.

The group's executive director, Sunny Aris, had been seeking records in connection to two alleged pet mistreatment cases, one at a property on Ruby Road in Chaparral and another at a home on Starfly Road on the East Mesa. Instead of providing the records all at once, Animal Village received them in a series of batches over the course of months, according to court records. The county claimed at one point it couldn't release certain records because of a law enforcement-related exemption to the open records act. But Rosner found the law enforcement exemption, sought by the county to withhold rabies records of animals, was not applicable.

"One of the problems of this case, for the Court, for counsel and for the parties, is the almost tortured way in which production of documents was rolled out, requiring four hearings over a year's time," Rosner wrote. "The end result is less than crisp work by everyone."

At a different point, Rosner describes the county's response to the records request as "tortured, untimely and inadequate by any definition."

Aris said the records she was seeking were related to two "puppy mills," one breeding Chihuahuas and Pomeranians and another breeding Old English bulldogs.

"I think the judge made the right decision; it was a very black-and-white case," she said. "Either they had provided the documentation that any New Mexican is entitled to under the Inspection of Public Records Act, or they had not."

Aris said her organization, which does no-kill rescue work, took in about 50 animals from one location and about two dozen animals from the other. She said some of the public records the group sought, such as for the dogs' ages, would have helped provide more accurate veterinary care. A number of the dogs had serious health problems stemming from mistreatment and inbreeding, she said.

Aris said it's outrageous that it took so long for Animal Village NM to get the records to which anyone is entitled. The judgment reaffirms that the state's open records statute "cannot be treated like trash, like Doña Ana County officials have treated it," she said.

Las Cruces attorney Peter Goodman represented Animal Village NM "We're gratified by the result. We made every effort we could to end this case earlier and not run up attorneys' fees on both sides — and damages," he said. "Unfortunately, that didn't happen."

Continued Goodman: "We think Judge Rosner's order is correct in every material particular."

Goodman is also a columnist for the Sun-News.

The county commission discussed the case in a meeting last week. There's a chance the county could decide to appeal the outcome. The parties also could decide to settle the judgment for a lesser amount.

County Commission Chairwoman Isabella Solis declined to comment on the matter, saying she doesn't have enough information about it.

According to Rosner's decision, the break-down of award is as follows: $73,017 to Goodman for attorney's fees; $11,375 to Animal Village NM for statutory damages; $2,273 to Aris as executive director of the organization; $2,200 to Goodman for costs; and $1,469 to Animal Village NM for out-of-pocket costs.

Animal Village NM in the initial lawsuit had said the county didn't provide all of the records it had requested in its Nov. 1, 2015, IPRA request. For instance, the nonprofit was aware of complaint phone calls that had been made to authorities regarding the two properties in question, but those weren't reflected in the documents provided by the county to fulfill the records request. In addition, the organized argued that one county department failed to send the IPRA request to other county departments that maintained a portion of the records requested, which is a requirement of the public records act.

Diana Alba Soular may be reached at 575-541-5443, dalba@lcsun-news.com or @AlbaSoular on Twitter.