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TOP STORY OF THE DAY, brought to you free by WICU: Indiana Public Access Counselor's office weighs in on jail lawsuit
The attorney who filed the legal complaint alleging the Clay County Commissioners, Clay County Council, and the Clay County Sheriff's Department violated the Indiana Open Door Law and Indiana Access to Public Records Act last week was notified Monday by an Indiana Public Access Counselor (IPAC) their investigation "could not identify any issues of law or fact."
The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) and Mariposa Legal filed three formal complaints with IPAC on Thursday, November 11, 2021.
According to the letter dated and sent Monday, December 20th by IPAC Luke H. Britt to Attorney Hannah Cartwright:
"Here, I had previously communicated an absence of grounds for filing a complaint. I had determined your public records requests lacked reasonable particularity and the Open Door Law allegations were speculative at best."
Britt notes in the letter that he had shared these concerns with Cartwright in a phone call about the complaints Monday, December 6th. However, he agreed to investigate further.
During Britt's investigation, he sent Cartwright's complaint to Clay County and did not solicit a written response with it.
Britt compiled meeting minutes from the county and conducted phone interviews with the county attorney and sheriff. Both, according to Britt's letter, provided satisfactory responses regarding the governing boy meetings.
It was noted Sheriff Paul Harder provided minutes of the jail committee minutes, which were not publically posted.
Britt wrote: "After piecing together the various meeting minutes - both regularly scheduled and otherwise - and comparing them to your complaint, I still did not identify any gaps in discussions that would lead me to believe any allegations could be substantiated."
While Britt admitted in the letter that his role is somewhat limited as his office is advisory and educational in nature, however... "I could still not identify any issues of law or fact upon which to opine beyond this letter."
Cartwright, an attorney with Mariposa Legal, filed a 35-page complaint on behalf of Communities Not Cages (CNC) Indiana Coalition in Clay Circuit Çourt. It alleges the Clay County Commissioners, Clay County Council, and the Clay County Sheriff's Department violated the Indiana Open Door Law and Indiana Access to Public Records Act.
The lawsuit centers around the lack of transparency in the county's proposal to expand the jail and asks the court to "enjoin county officials from proceeding with the plan until 'substantial reconsideration' has been given at a public meeting compliant with the ODL."
Cartwright stated in a CNC press release on Monday, "The people of Indiana deserve to have transparency and accountability from their elected public officials. We hope that this lawsuit will bring such transparency around the proposed jail expansion of Clay County Jail that not only directly affects Clay County taxpayers but has significant national implications as this small county seeks to unilaterally collaborate with ICE in the detention of immigrant residents in the Midwest."
The complaint was filed in Clay Circuit Court, with Judge Joseph D. Trout preceding; defendants have 20 days to respond from the date of filing.
The Brazil Times is posting the entire complaint online and the Indiana Public Access Counselor's response at www.thebraziltimes.com.
The Times will continue to follow this story and update readers when more information is available.
Read the documents by clicking here: