Opinion ID: 1280889
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Disclosure Request of Phoenix Newspapers

Text: On August 14, 1990, Kerry Fehr requested from ADOT under A.R.S. § 39-121.01 a list of the individual allottees and the amounts they received for their interests. On August 15, the Community made a written demand that ADOT return the ownership and payment records to the Community and honor its confidentiality agreement. In a letter dated August 16, ADOT denied Fehr's request, stating that these records belong to the Indian Community. Complaint Exh.C. On August 17, ADOT returned all documents containing confidential information to the Community, in accordance with the written demand from the Community and ADOT's previous commitments ... to preserve the confidentiality of the materials and the privacy of tribal members. Affidavit of Robert L. Langguth, Memorandum Exh.F. The documents returned to the Community consisted of title reports for individual parcels of land prepared by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, computer printout sheets containing names of individual allottees and amounts received by the allottees, computer diskettes containing the allottees names and amounts received, computer printouts prepared by the escrow agent containing the names of allottees and payments made, receipts prepared by the escrow agent, the check register of the escrow agent and Xerox copies of checks issued by the escrow agent. Id. Also on August 17, Phoenix Newspapers filed a special action in superior court against the State of Arizona, ADOT, and Charles Miller, director of ADOT, seeking to compel disclosure of the allottees' names and amounts received. See A.R.S. § 39-121.02. Phoenix Newspapers also sought and obtained an order restraining ADOT from turning the documents over to the Community. The documents, however, had already been delivered to the Community. On August 24, at a show cause hearing in superior court, ADOT's attorneys revealed that the treasurer had a copy of the check distribution list. Phoenix Newspapers requested disclosure of the list. Nothing in the record shows how the treasurer came into possession of the list, nor has the state offered any explanation. The Community's attorney sent a letter to the treasurer on August 29, formally requesting that the list be withheld from disclosure pending determination of its status in the superior court action. The state submitted the check distribution list, under seal, to the superior court judge on August 30, 1990. Additional documents from the right-of-way transaction, specifically copies of state treasury checks to an allottee who was inadvertently paid the incorrect amount and to an allottee who sold his interest after the transaction was completed, and supporting vouchers and memoranda, were submitted under seal on November 29, 1990. At oral argument, Phoenix Newspapers maintained that the check distribution list was subject to disclosure under the public records law. The state argued that the allottees had protected privacy interests under federal law and the confidentiality agreement between the Community and ADOT. The Community declined to intervene at this time, believing its interests were being adequately protected by the state. The superior court did not rule on the inherent applicability of the public records law, but found that the state had failed to sustain its burden of proof that specific material harm will result from disclosure. The court therefore ordered disclosure to Phoenix Newspapers. Minute Entry, Nov. 14, 1990. On November 26, the state and Phoenix Newspapers stipulated to entry of judgment, reciting that the state had failed to prove that specific harm would result from disclosure of the documents and that the documents should be turned over to Phoenix Newspapers. The Community moved to intervene as a defendant the same day, asserting that the state was no longer protecting its interests. The motion to intervene was granted, but the judge ordered that the Community was bound by the stipulated facts agreed to by the state and Phoenix Newspapers and could not relitigate any underlying issues. Minute Entry, Dec. 5, 1990. Judgment was entered on December 5 but was stayed for thirty days to allow the Community time to seek appellate relief. Id. The court of appeals declined jurisdiction of the Community's petition for relief, and the Community then filed a special action petition in this court. [2] After hearing oral argument on February 5, 1991, this court found that the two checks generated by the treasurer and the supporting vouchers and memoranda were public records or other matters of the state of Arizona and ordered that they be unsealed immediately. Order, Feb. 22, 1991. Security's check distribution list remained sealed pending further order of this court. The superior court's judgment ordering disclosure contains no express finding as to whether the check distribution list is a public record or other matter, nor does it address the federal privacy rules surrounding the content of the list. In accordance with the language in some Arizona cases, the superior court may have assumed that the list was within the category of documents subject to disclosure under A.R.S. § 39-121.01 and dispensed with the initial determination of whether the list was a public record or other matter to reach the determination of whether its release would have a harmful effect on the duties of an official or agency. See, e.g., Carlson v. Pima County, 141 Ariz. 487, 490, 687 P.2d 1242, 1245 (1984); Little v. Gilkinson, 130 Ariz. 415, 416-17, 636 P.2d 663, 664-65 (Ct.App. 1981); Church of Scientology v. Phoenix Police Dep't, 122 Ariz. 338, 339, 594 P.2d 1034, 1035 (Ct.App. 1979). That approach is improper when, as in this case, the facts raise a substantial question as to the threshold determination of whether the document is subject to the statute. We accepted jurisdiction, therefore, to determine whether the check distribution list is a public record or other matter of the state of Arizona within the meaning of A.R.S. § 39-121, and, if so, whether it is a confidential, private document and therefore exempt from disclosure under the Arizona statute.