Sheriff must pay newspaper's legal bills from gun-permit dispute
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) – The Jackson County sheriff's office must pay about $43,500 in legal bills after losing a battle over concealed handgun permits a court said were public records.
Sheriff Mike Winters was ordered to pay the legal expenses for the Mail Tribune after the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled in June that Winters wrongly denied a request by the Medford newspaper for public records listing licenses granted in 2006 and 2007 for concealed handguns.
Mail Tribune Editor Bob Hunter said the newspaper did not want the sheriff's office to spend money on legal fees. However, it was "important to make sure that public officials follow the law themselves."
Hunter said the newspaper never planned to publish the names of those granted permits and only wanted to determine whether any were teachers after one teacher filed a lawsuit seeking to carry a gun to school.
Shirley Katz, an English teacher at South Medford High School, sued the Medford School District seeking to be allowed to carry her concealed handgun on campus. Her lawsuit was ultimately dismissed by the appeals court.
Winters told the Mail Tribune he had no regrets about fighting the newspaper over the records, despite the expense.
"Both the time and money expended during the judicial process was necessary in order to protect school teachers who possess handgun licenses in Jackson County," Winters said.
Hunter said the sheriff could have made other choices.
"I've said it many times, but I'll say it again: If the sheriff or anybody else wants to make concealed weapons permits exempt from public records laws, they should go to the Legislature and ask them to do it," Hunter said.
The records still have not been turned over to the Mail Tribune.
Andrea Carlson, a sheriff's spokeswoman, said there were 3,000 to 5,000 licenses in 2006 and 2007. Providing a list of those names probably would involve charging the newspaper thousands of dollars for staff time. The county counsel is working on calculating a cost estimate.
Government agencies are allowed under law to charge for staff time and paper expended in fulfilling public records requests.
– Information from the Mail Tribune.