Judge Rules in Favor of Plaintiffs Ted Keller and Leo Straley

The following article was published in the Foster County Independent on February 2, 2008. Since their newspaper is not online, I've copied it here for the convenience of Internet readers.

Judge Rule Favors Plaintiff--Court Case sought Copies of Letters in Support of Dairy by Leasa A. Lura for the Foster County Independent

In a hearing of Ted Keller and Leo Straley vs. Foster County Commission, Judge Greenwood ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, but the damages they were seeking will not be paid.

During the hearing on Wednesday, January 28, attorney for the commission, Scott Porsberg attended the hearing by phone.

The hearing was for a summary judgment filed by Keller and Straley with a motion for summary judgment also filed by the commission.

Keller began by telling Judge Greenwood that he sent two letters to the county commission on June 9, 2008, requesting copies of the 346 letters that commissioner Jim Carr received from supporters of the Van Bedaf dairy.

After receiving no response, Keller said he sent another request on August 19, 2008, accompanied by an$86 certified check for the copies.

Keller stated that he still hasn't received copies of the letters and quoted the attorney general as saying that every person has the right to access records of government entities.

Porsberg said that he didn't receive copies of the letters because the request wasn't sent to the acting attorney.

He also said that Ellen Sherman sent a request to him for copies of the letters and received those copies.

Porsberg said he assumed that Sherman was acting as an agent for Keller and Straley and assumed that they would receive the letters from Sherman. Keller and Straley both testified that they had not received the letters from Sherman.

After a review of the case and the testimonies, Judge Greenwood said that Porsberg had no reason to believe that Sherman was acting as an agent of Keller and Straley.

Judge Greenwood ultimately denied the commission's motion for summary judgment and granted Keller and Straley's motion for summary judgment.

He said that the commission must provide copies of the letters to Keller and Straley in a reasonable amount of time.

Keller and Straley were also seeking at least $1,000 in damages, but Judge Greenwood denied that request, except for the filing fees to the county amounting to $80.

Judge Greenwood also said that he believes that the violation was not intentional.