La. judge rules that two state offices violated public records law

A state district judge ruled that the Division of Administration and the Economic Development Department supplied insufficient records, the Shreveport (La.) Times reported. An attorney for the proposed Red Stick Studios requested records concerning how the movie credit law was changed in 2007 but only received a small portion of the available data. An appeal is expected.

Two top segments of Louisiana government violated the state's open records law by supplying insufficient records and not complying in a timely manner, a state district judge says.

The Division of Administration's and the Economic Development Department's "deliberate indifference and ineptitude rise to level of arbitrary and capricious," District Judge Janice Clark ruled late Monday night. That's the standard necessary for imposing sanctions on the agencies' heads — Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis and Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret.

State attorney Pam Perkins responded to Clark's decision by saying "the Division of Administration respectfully disagrees with the judge's decision. We look forward to applying to the 1st Circuit" Court of Appeal as soon as a transcript of the 10-hour hearing is available.

More here.