A Pierce County sheriff’s detective who previously filed a claim for damages against Prosecutor Mark Lindquist now is suing the county, contending Lindquist’s office inappropriately withheld what she believes are public records.
Representatives from Lindquist’s office last week characterized the lawsuit brought by Glenda Nissen as harassment and said the records she seeks contain private information that would be harmful to disclose.
“We are focused on our jobs, but Nissen seems embittered and obsessed with trying to harass the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office even if it risks the security of police, prosecutors and other public servants and their families,” said Dawn Farina, Lindquist’s chief of staff.
Nissen filed suit in Thurston County Superior Court on Oct. 26. She claims the county violated the state’s Public Records Act by redacting portions of phone records she sought for Lindquist’s private cellphone.
“The requested records, which are the phone records showing calls made on public time by a public official, contain ‘information relating to the conduct of government’ and thereby fall within the definition of a ‘public record,’ ” Greg Overstreet, who is representing Nissen in the lawsuit, wrote in his complaint.
Attorney Joan Mell, who represented Nissen in her previous damages claim, said she wants to review the records as part of her investigation into whether Lindquist retaliated against Nissen after she and the county settled that claim out of court earlier this year.
Mell said Lindquist uses his private phone to conduct county business, so “these records are pertinent and relevant.”
“He made his phone the public phone,” she said.
The county released copies of Lindquist’s phone bills following a public records request by Mell but redacted portions it contends were calls made to private parties not related to county business, said Doug Vanscoy, who heads up Lindquist’s civil division. Calls made as part of county business were not redacted.
Private calls Lindquist made with the phone – which he purchased and pays the monthly fees for with his own money – are not subject to disclosure, Vanscoy said.
“She’s pushing the envelope on public records,” he said.
Overstreet contends the records for that phone are public since Lindquist uses it for public business, and that the county must properly cite the state law applicable to any redactions it makes from the records.
County officials did not do so when responding to Mell’s public records request, Overstreet wrote in his complaint.
“The redacted portions of the requested records are not exempt from disclosure under any valid exemption from disclosure,” the lawsuit states.
Sheriff Paul Pastor, Nissen’s boss, weighed in to the debate Friday.
“I believe that easy access to the personal and private information of law enforcement and other government officials will invite threats, attempts at intimidation and identity theft,” Pastor said in an email. “This is the very information which we tell the public to protect so that they are not victimized.”
Nissen wants the complete records produced promptly, reasonable attorney’s fees and monetary penalties of $100 per day levied against the county for “each day since the date of the requests until the date the records are actually provided to plaintiff Nissen,” the suit states.
Nissen filed her original claim for damages in mid-June.
She sought $2.5 million, claiming Lindquist retaliated against her by banning her from the nonpublic portions of his offices while she was being investigated as a possible suspect in a death threat made against his chief criminal deputy. The case was referred to Kitsap County prosecutors, who declined to press charges.
Nissen previously had criticized Lindquist, accusing him of self-promotion and excessive pursuit of plea bargains, among other things.
Lindquist at the time called the claim frivolous and framed the dispute as a workplace-safety issue.
The sides later settled out of court with the county paying $39,500 to Mell, Nissen’s attorney, for fees and costs. Mell later said some of that money went to Nissen.
Mell said she thinks Lindquist continued to disparage her client after the settlement and has filed a retaliation claim with the county. Nissen also filed a complaint against Lindquist and some of his deputies with the Washington State Bar Association, Mell said.
Lindquist’s chief of staff called those complaints “frivolous and baseless” and said she expects them to be dismissed.
“She ought to stop wasting everyone’s time and wasting taxpayer money,” Farina said.
Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644
adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com
Twitter: @TNTadam
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